A consumer's republic: the politics of mass consumption in postwar America

Description

Prologue -- Part I : Origins of the postwar consumers' republic -- Depression : rise of the citizen consumer ; War : citizen consumers do battle on the home front -- Part II : Birth of the consumers' republic -- Reconversion : the emergence of the consumers' republic ; Rebellion : forcing open the doors of public accommodations -- Part III : Landscape of mass consumption -- Residence : inequality in mass suburbia ; Commerce : reconfiguring community marketplaces -- Part IV : Political culture of mass consumption -- Culture : segmenting the mass ; Politics : purchasers politicized -- Epilogue.;In 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. From the Trade Paperback edition. Prologue -- Part I : Origins of the postwar consumers' republic -- Depression : rise of the citizen consumer War : citizen consumers do battle on the home front -- Part II : Birth of the consumers' republic -- Reconversion : the emergence of the consumers' republic Rebellion : forcing open the doors of public accommodations -- Part III : Landscape of mass consumption -- Residence : inequality in mass suburbia Commerce : reconfiguring community marketplaces -- Part IV : Political culture of mass consumption -- Culture : segmenting the mass Politics : purchasers politicized -- Epilogue.