A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar AmericaIn this signal work of history, Bancroft Prize winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Lizabeth Cohen shows how the pursuit of prosperity after World War II fueled our pervasive consumer mentality and transformed American life. Trumpeted as a means to promote the general welfare, mass consumption quickly outgrew its economic objectives and became synonymous with patriotism, social equality, and the American Dream. Material goods came to embody the promise of America, and the power of consumers to purchase everything from vacuum cleaners to convertibles gave rise to the power of citizens to purchase political influence and effect social change. Yet despite undeniable successes and unprecedented affluence, mass consumption also fostered economic inequality and the fracturing of society along gender, class, and racial lines. In charting the complex legacy of our “Consumers’ Republic” Lizabeth Cohen has written a bold, encompassing, and profoundly influential book. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - drbrand - LibraryThingAfter World War II, Americans began to change their attitude toward the role of consumption in constructing American identity and values. Actively discouraged by the American government during the war ... Read full review
A CONSUMERS' REPUBLIC: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America
User Review - KirkusPop quiz: Patriotism involves (a) giving your life for your country; (b) flying the flag on national holidays; (c) shopping till you drop. If you answered (c), you'll be well prepared to follow this ... Read full review
Contents
The Emergence of the Consumers Republic | 112 |
Forcing Open the Doors of Public Accommodations | 166 |
Inequality in Mass Suburbia | 194 |
Reconfiguring Community Marketplaces | 257 |
Tē art TPewr | 291 |
Epilogue | 399 |
Acknowledgments | 537 |
Other editions - View all
A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Lizabeth Cohen Limited preview - 2004 |
A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Lizabeth Cohen No preview available - 2008 |
A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Lizabeth Cohen No preview available - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
advertising AFL-CIO African Americans Angevine Bergen County Bergen Mall Bill Boycott campaign Chicago citizen consumers City Civil Rights Committee consumer interest consumer movement Consumerism Court Culture democratic Department Store discrimination downtown economic Education Erber Esther Peterson federal Folder Garden State Plaza GI Bill groups Harlem Housewives housing income industry Jersey Jersey's July June labor League living Magazine Mall market segmentation marketplace mass consumption mass market ment middle-class Mount Laurel NAACP National Negro neighborhoods Newark organizations Paramus percent political population postwar President price controls programs prosperity protection racial Ralph Nader Report Republic Research retail segregation Sept Shoppers shopping centers social spending suburban suburbia suburbs sumer television tion Union University Press urban Veterans voters wartime Washington women workers working-class World World War II York
Bibliographic information
| Title | A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America |
| Author | Lizabeth Cohen |
| Publisher | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0307555364, 9780307555366 |
| Length | 576 pages |
| Subjects | › › Business & Economics / Development / Economic Development History / United States / 20th Century History / United States / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |