The Thatcher years in Britain—1979 to 1990—made for an especially wild decade. In response to the miners’ strikes, anti-homosexual laws, the AIDS epidemic, and rampant gentrification, the 1980s saw photography used as a critical tool for political activism, expression, and social change. The Tate Britain, in London, brings together works from a diverse range of photographers who used their art to represent the underrepresented in British society. Each photograph tells a story behind the struggling and problematic state of the country. Here is a timeline of the decade in a carefully curated array of photographs. —Isabella Carter