The Anxieties of Affluence: Critiques of American Consumer Culture, 1939-1979

By Daniel Horowitz

Book Overview

This book charts the reactions of prominent American writers to the unprecedented prosperity of the decades following World War II. It begins with an examination of Lewis Mumford's wartime call for "democratic" consumption and concludes with an analysis of the origins of President Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech of 1979. Between these bookends, Daniel Horowitz documents a broad range of competing views, each in its own way reflective of a deep-seated ambivalence toward consumer culture.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558495045
• ISBN13: 9781558495043
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Complaints about American Consumerism

In the United States there is no question that we live in a culture of consumption. We change cars long before they are work out, and our thrift shops are filled with clothes showing almost no wear. And we are overweight. The complaints about American consumer habits have grown just about as fast. This book examines that critism from the end of the depression until 1979. The book has five broad themes: . the persistence of highly charged, moralistic attitudes to consumer culture . how certain writers embraceed psychology as an explanation for and a solution to social problems . the factors that determined the power of books to set the terms of public discussion . the role of intellectuals in shaping social movements, public conversations and policy considerations . the hegemony of the of the cold war consentsus was replaced by new events and ideas challenged its legitimacy. The book ends in 1979 with the energy crisis and the thought that the 'good life' was over. After that came the longest period of growth in our history, various recessions, booms and bust on Wall Street, the dot.coms, SUVs and a lot more critism.