An Affluent Society?: Britain's Post-War 'Golden Age' RevisitedRoutledge, 28 հլս, 2017 թ. - 272 էջ During an election speech in 1957 the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, famously remarked that 'most of our people have never had it so good'. Although taken out of context, this phrase soon came to epitomize the sense of increased affluence and social progress that was prevalent in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, despite the recognition that Britain had moved away from an era of rationing and scarcity, to a new age of choice and plenty, there was simultaneously a parallel feeling that the nation was in decline and being economically outstripped by its international competitors. Whilst the study of Britain's postwar history is a well-trodden path, and the paradox of absolute growth versus relative decline much debated, it is here approached in a fresh and rewarding way. Rather than highlighting economic and industrial 'decline', this volume emphasizes the tremendous impact of rising affluence and consumerism on British society. It explores various expressions of affluence: new consumer goods; shifting social and cultural values; changes in popular expectations of policy; shifting popular political behaviour; changing attitudes of politicians towards the electorate; and the representation of affluence in popular culture and advertising. By focusing on the widespread cultural consequences of increasing levels of consumerism, emphasizing growth over decline and recognizing the rising standards of living enjoyed by most Britons, a new and intriguing window is opened on the complexities of this 'golden age'. Contrasting growing consumer expectations and demands against the anxieties of politicians and economists, this book offers all students of the period a new perspective from which to view post-imperial Britain and to question many conventional historical assumptions. |
Բովանդակություն
1929 | |
1948 | |
Douglas Jay and Britains Transition to Affluence 1951 | |
Total Abstinence and a Good FilingSystem? Anthony Crosland and the Affluent | |
Political Culture in the 1950s and 1960s | |
Affluence Relative Decline and the Treasury | |
Economists and Economic Growth in Britain c 195565 | |
The Birmingham Consumers Group | |
Skill Judgement and the Problems of Aesthetic Tutelage | |
Marketing to Youth in Britain since 1959 | |
Germany Japan America and the Shaping of British National | |
Bibliography | |
Այլ խմբագրություններ - View all
Common terms and phrases
advertising affluent Britain affluent society Age of Affluence American Annual Report Anthony Anthony Crosland appeal argued associated austerity Birmingham Consumer BLPES British Economy Britons Caimcross Cambridge University Press capital cent chapter Co-Op CoID Conservative Party consumerism consumption contemporary Council of Industrial Coventry critics Crosland Crossman debate democratic Douglas Douglas Jay economic growth economic policy economists Eisenhower election electoral expenditure Fabian Fabian Society full employment Gaitskell German growth rate Harmondsworth History Hugh Hugh Gaitskell impact income incomes policy increased increasingly Industrial Design Keynesian Labour Party lifestyles London Macmillan Manchester modem National NEDC Penguin planning political popular post-war Britain programme prosperity Rachel Waterhouse relative decline Research retail Richard Richard Crossman role Routledge socialists standard of living teenagers Tories trade Treasury Union voters West Germany whilst young youth culture youth market youth subcultures