A Consumers' Republic

The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America

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.

©2003 Lizabeth Cohen (P)2018 Tantor

Important

A very good book on history of US consumer behavior. However little discussion on impact on environment.

Disappointing

Promising topic, but the performance was delivered in a monotone with no inflection at all. I tried twice to listen and finally gave up. Might be better in written form.

Will put you right to sleep

Holy smokes!?! I was excited to listen, but ended up returning this title. It’s like an exhausting lecture, delivered in the most boring monotone fashion. My mind kept asking a seeing and I couldn’t stay focused at all. The subject matter is of great interest to me, but I feel like this was overly wordy and dove WAY deeper than I cared to go.