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I am trying to translate the title of my thesis:

"Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia (at the conjunction of 80s and 90s of the 20th century)"

I am no sure about the part in bold. There, I want to express the time period spanning the last two years of 1980s (1988, 1989) and the first three years of 1990s (1990, 1991, 1992).

Is what I wrote correct, or is there any better expression for that?

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    You just write the years. Like you just did. "Around 1988-1992", is what you said. And that is exactly how you say it. There is no reason to reword that into the horrible "at the conjunction of 80s and 90s of the 20th century". Nobody ever says something like that in any language. And it's like five times longer and ten times harder to understand. You said "1988-1992" to explain the concept to us, so say the exact same thing to explain the concept to the rest of your readership.
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 10:51
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    Is this about the country of Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union?
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 19:55
  • How about: "While Bush Sr. was POTUS" or "About the time of the First Gulf War"? Or "Before Saddam Hussein became a bad guy"? There are no end of serious ro humorous historical references one could make that an astute reader would quickly pick up on.
    – Pieter Geerkens
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 20:10
  • When asking for translations, it's always nice to share the original.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 20:55
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    If it's Georgia the country, then the end of the Soviet Era would be a more fitting description. Please specify the country in the tags.
    – vsz
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 4:53

8 Answers 8

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"Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia (1988–1992)"

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    In the context of a thesis, this is exactly the right answer. Precision and concision are highly valued in academic work.
    – Toby Speight
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 12:14
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Oliver's answer seems best and most precise, but if you are looking for something more vague, "conjunction" is awkward usage.

If anything, you could say "at the turn of the 1990s"; we don't talk about the turn of decades as often as we do the "turn of the century" but it's as valid and easily understandable.

See also: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/78220/about-the-period-of-from-the-turn-of-the-decade

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    conjunction is French.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 19:52
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    @Lambie It is also an English word?
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 20:55
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    @AzorAhai Of course, but not used to describe years between centuries or decades.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 20:57
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    @AzorAhai I should have written it sounds like French in this context. Sorry.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 20:59
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I'm not sure I would, but you could also say:

Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia, circa 1990

This is less precise than Oliver and Chris' answers -- in this case I would think that is not desirable, but may be what you (or future readers) are after.

see: Correct use of "circa"

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    @Lambie I don't get it. There's no mention of 1890's.
    – Mitch
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 20:00
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    @Lambie if I hadn't seen your other comments, I would not know what you were talking about. "You said" is not here but underneath someone else's post. Maybe you should consider deleting the comments under jfk's answer.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 8:52
  • "Circa" does have a connotation of the date being unknown, rather than varying.
    – Acccumulation
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 18:34
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"Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia (in the late '80s and early '90s)"

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    In this case, 1880s and 1890s would be de rigueur.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 15:47
  • Sorry, this is Georgia the country:, my bad. (late 1980s to early 1990s)
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 19:56
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    I think this best answers the general question (i.e., "How do we express the time between the latter part of one decade and the beginning of the next?"), but, unfortunately, for this specific usage, I think it might make a rather clumsy thesis title.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 14:45
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Depending on the political sensitivities of your intended readership you could consider some historical landmark such as ‘end of cold war’ Or ‘collapse of communism in Europe’?

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    This would be out of place if the paper doesn't address the relationship between the historical landmark and the establishment of political parties in Georgia.
    – Michelle C. Funk
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 0:23
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    @MichelleC.Funk But then how could it possibly not?? It's like "Analysis of human-machine relationships in the late 2010s" vs. "Analysis of human-machine relationships at the dawn of artificial intelligence". It's obviously connected.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 7:11
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If you want to provide some historical context in terms of world events, you might phrase it as, "From the Dissolution of the Iron Curtain to the end of the Cold War". That may have no relevance to your thesis, but you get the idea. Wikipedia has some good articles providing highlights for 1988 and 1992.

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  • This is a great comment on the thesis but does not really address the OPs explicit question. Maybe you can make this a comment instead.
    – Mitch
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 19:57
  • Thanks for your feedback. But I did read the OP a few times, and his question did ask for "... any better expression for that?". I think this is an approach to that "better expression". I also thought it best not to suggest exact wording, as that might become controversial. I don't think my advisers would have allowed "borrowing" another's words without giving credit. But I apologize if I've missed the mark. Please delete the entire post if it's deemed inappropriate.
    – Seamus
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 17:57
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It is the Perestroika!, dude!

Perestroika was a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s until 1991 and is widely associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost (meaning "openness") policy reform. The literal meaning of perestroika is "restructuring," referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system.

Perestroika is sometimes argued to be a significant cause of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, and the end of the Cold War.

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    The Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia During the Time of Perestroika [+1]
    – Bread
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 11:03
  • Per your link, the Perestroika ended in 1991.
    – 0xFEE1DEAD
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 13:28
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"The Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia (Around the Turn of the Decade Between the 1980s and the 1990s)"

(NB The definite article is required before 'establishment'.)

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    It would be in a normal sentence, but in titles of academic works it is often omitted.
    – Oliver Mason
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 10:03
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    Fair comment. It still sounds/looks a little odd, though, to my ear/eye, so I suppose it is a matter of taste.
    – The Advocate
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 10:07
  • at the turn of the decade but it becomes too unwieldy here.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 15:43
  • "The decade between the 1980s and the 1990s" is not only unwieldy but nonsensical, as the "1980s" includes the years 1980-1989 and the "1990s" includes the years 1990-1999 so there is not a such thing as a decade between them. "Around the turn of the 1990s" is what I suggested above, and I think it is the least unwieldy of any possible "turn of" usage.
    – Michelle C. Funk
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 0:22
  • The Establishment of Political Parties in Georgia (Around the Turn of the Decade, 1990) [+1]
    – Bread
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 11:01

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