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. |
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 |
Tº 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 - 2003 |
A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Lizabeth Cohen No preview available - 2008 |
A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Lizabeth Cohen No preview available - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
action activism advertising African Americans American areas Association authority became become benefits Bergen Bill Boycott campaign century Chicago citizens City Civil Rights Committee consumer consumer movement consumption continued County Court Culture customers demand Department Development discrimination early economic Education efforts equal example federal Folder greater groups History housing income industry interest Jersey July June labor late League less living major market segmentation mass moved Negro Newark Office organizations particularly percent Plan political population postwar President programs protection purchasing race racial Regional Report Republic Research retail segregation shopping centers social society spending suburban suburbs sumer Survey television tion Union United University Press urban Veterans Washington women workers World York