In A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America, author Lizabeth Cohen focuses on how the American culture of abundance and consumption influenced many political, socioeconomic and cultural changes in the decades proceeding the end of World War II. She argues that mass consumerism is deeply rooted in the modern American experience. Cohen first uses the prologue of A Consumers' Republic to introduce her own personal story, having grown up during the beginnings of the age of mass consumption. She claims that the purpose of including her personal story was not to demonstrate it's uniqueness, but instead insinuates that it was something along the lines of a common experience in the middle of the 20th century.
Cohen breaks the work down into four distinct parts. First, she focuses on "The Origins of The Postwar Consumers' Republic", which argues that the growth of consumer culture arose from a mostly historical perspective. Cohen examines mass consumption's roots and argues that they came out of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Of this period Cohen writes, "Hard times forced many Americans to struggle to find and keep work, to feed their families, and to …show more content…
This section focuses heavily on the concept of "reconversion", which encouraged American families to re-think their ideas of middle-class comforts and expectations, as well as push the notion that consumption was not only selfish, but charitable. In so doing, "reconversion" tidily relates the "new postwar order" with consumerism. Cohen uses the example of a 1947 Life Magazine article which encourages families to "buy more for itself to better the living of others."[2] This section argues that the integration of consumerism with everyday American life was viewed as crucial both for prosperity as a nation and as an
Cohen breaks the work down into four distinct parts. First, she focuses on "The Origins of The Postwar Consumers' Republic", which argues that the growth of consumer culture arose from a mostly historical perspective. Cohen examines mass consumption's roots and argues that they came out of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Of this period Cohen writes, "Hard times forced many Americans to struggle to find and keep work, to feed their families, and to …show more content…
This section focuses heavily on the concept of "reconversion", which encouraged American families to re-think their ideas of middle-class comforts and expectations, as well as push the notion that consumption was not only selfish, but charitable. In so doing, "reconversion" tidily relates the "new postwar order" with consumerism. Cohen uses the example of a 1947 Life Magazine article which encourages families to "buy more for itself to better the living of others."[2] This section argues that the integration of consumerism with everyday American life was viewed as crucial both for prosperity as a nation and as an