Consumerism Flashcards
Define consumerism
A set of ideals/value system which privileges the ever-increasing consumption of goods and services past a person’s basic needs
What has consumerism been associated with?
America, the US and capitalism
What do Bren and Neuberger note about consumerism in the postwar West?
That in the West in the postwar period it became an almost patriotic ideology, analogous with citizenship
Was there consumerism in the post-war East?
In the East it was not officially propagated but in post-Stalinist era especially can see consumerist ideals and aspirational content
Why is a user-focused history needed with regards to consumption/consumerism?
A user-focused history is needed to include the use and experience of things and how it impacted people and not just their acquisition
What is a better term to encompass both East and West according to Bren and Neuberger?
consumption
Generally, what was the relationship between Western European regimes and consumerism? (4)
They promoted an individual consumerism,
Embraced consumer culture, Utilised it to shape postwar society and
It acted as a source of political legitimacy
What is the historical significance of an Italian Christian Democrat election poster in 1948 featuring film star Tyrone Power’s image with the caption “even Hollywood stars are against Communism!”
The Italian Communist party was a competitive political opponent having gained 18.9% of the vote in 1946
What was explicitly promoted in France in the early 1950s as a means of undermining class-based identities?
An American model of domestic life
What is the evidence that the appliances deployed in Marshall Plan propaganda as symbols of benefits that w-c people could enjoy if they abandoned Communism and bought into consumer capitalism were successful in France?
Fridge and washing machine ownership in France increased across the 1950s and 1960s
What did the percentage of households who had a fridge increase from in 1954 to in 1968?
7.5% in 1954 to 72.4% in 1968
What did the percentage of households who had a washing machine increase from in 1954 to in 1968?
8.4% in 1954 to 50.1% in 1968
What did the adoption of new production techniques by Western European businesses enable?
Mass production and mass consumerism
What did mass production and mass consumerism in the West create?
a new economic model reliant on ordinary people consuming
Were Americanised notions of consumerism imposed on Western Businesses?
No they embraced consumerist culture
Did Western businesses simply adopt Americanised notions wholesale?
No, they were adapted to specific local contexts, also not specifically American a creolization of influences/cultures - Global
(Krooes)
What did 1940s Italian magazines regularly print?
Max Factor ads ft. Rita Hayworth as Gilda
What was the significance of Italian mags in the 1940s regularly printing Max Factor ads ft. Rita Hayworth as Gilda?
through her Italian women invited to participate in the beauty secret of Max Factor/American women/stars
What does Mamma Roma contrast American glamour and artifice with?
Italian grittiness and authenticity
How did Italian glamour become distinct from Hollywood glamour?
It evolved more through fashion
What did Italian glamour’s evolution through fashion result in?
unusual shapes, bright colours, youthful verve
Why would rich American come to Italy?
to visit tailors and dressmakers to design dresses
Why is the Fiat 500 a good example of the creolisation of cultures in Italian postwar design?
It had American, Italian, and German influences
Though small and therefore completely different to the outsize vehicles seen in Hollywood films, how was the Fiat 500 influenced by America?
still incorporated the streamlining of American 1930s cars employing chrome decoration as a citation of this influence
What was the Fiat 500, like the best of Italian design objects of the postwar period?
Also elegant and functional
What did the Fiat 500 draw on for the simplicity of its line?
German avant-garde
Who is credited with bringing fast-food to France?
Jacques Borel
What was the first fast-food chain in France?
Wimpy
Did Borel adopt American notions wholesale in Wimpy?
No, he adapted American styles and sensibilities in Wimpy
What is an example of how Borel diversified options to focus on everyday needs of French people?
He created a chain of inexpensive rest-stop along growing network of autoroutes
What was French New Wave cinema?
A reassertion of national cinema but adopted American/Hollywood styles and techniques
How is Breathless characteristic of this French New Wave?
uses things like jump shots etc. popularised and inspired by Hollywood
What proliferated 1950s/60s advertising and women’s magazines in France?
Normative discourses about comfort
What is an example of French department stores no longer being limited to the elite and beginning to cater to mass tastes?
Carrefour became a world leader in offering a wide range of merchandise
What is an example of the success of a US import/the style of franchising in West Germany?
Aldi successively replaced corner grocery stores bc of their larger assortments and cheaper prices, based on purchasing volume
Why does Rebecca Pupil believed the development of consumer politics in France increased the agency of women through their new role as “consumer citizens”?
She argues they were considered and targeted by advertisers/businesses/the state in away they hadn’t before and had greater responsibility and agency as were making the majority of financial decisions for the household
What does Jackie Clarke argue that t Moulineux’s female workers and the meanings of domestic appliances to them disputes?
The idea that there was a shift from work-centred consumption to consumption-centred identities and values in this period
How does Jackie Clarke argue against the idea there was a shift from work-centred consumption consumption-centred identities and values in this period?
Through a focus on women’s dual role as worker-consumers rather than their role as consumer-citizens
What does Jackie Clarke conclude from her analysis of Moulineux’s female workers and meanings of domestic appliances?
Not just in the home that women’s work central to expansion of domestic appliance industry, also in the workforce
What did mass consumerism and postwar reconstruction in France lead to in France and why?
The feminisation of the workforce due to the labour intensive methods of production/expansion of industries producing consumer goods increasing the need for unskilled labour
According to a 1968 study, what percentage of the Moulinex factory workforce was women?
over 80%
According to a 1968 study, what was the average age of the Moulinex workers?
c. 18-19
Who staffed the shop floors of the Moulinex factories 1958-75?
Young, unskilled, predominantly rural women
Why is Moulinex a good example for the whole domestic appliance industry?
Their hold on the market was such that no brand was more closely identified with the transformation of the French home
How did Moulinex management promote worker’s consumption of their products?
They enabled them to acquire appliances at discounted rates
Why do the Moulinex workers reveal some of the limitations of generalisations about consumer society and its tendency to replace collective work-based identities with more individual consumption-defined identities?
They stood in a double relationship to appliances (as producers and consumers) distinct from other consumers of the products
How does Josette Gosselin’s like for her electric carving knife because it cut even slices show the dichotomy between consumption and production is unhelpful?
Her pleasure in consumption was the pleasure of a job well done
Why is the feminisation of the workforce not necessarily progressive in France?
Women were overwhelmingly in unskilled jobs, poorly paid, and still male oversight and leadership
As the majority of women in the workforce were young women, what did most view it as? (France)
Something to do until marriage
Why did most women believe once married they would not work in France?
For many it was more economically beneficial to be a housewife and claim benefits rather than go to work
What does Bourdieu’s study of 1950s/60s France highlight?
The preservation of social groups through taste
According to Bourdieu, what does taste become in post-war France?
new form of distinguishing social groups despite increasing affluence
What else does Bourdieu argue (cultural knowledge and habitus)?
Despite people getting richer they lack the cultural knowledge that confers social status and power/also their habitus and field is not correct type to accord status
What was the gender imbalance in WG in immediate postwar period?
country made up of 67% women and children
What did Allied Command’s Oct 1945 conscription of all women aged 15-50 for reconstruction work do? (WG)
Create new feminine image of the rubble women
What did the conscription of WG women for reconstruction mean?
The revival of industry was dependent on women’s labour, at least until influx of migrating eastern Germans somewhat restored imbalance
Why did economic analyst Abelshauser characterise mid-1950s WG as a work society not a consumer society?
Only 11% of pop owned fridges, 20% washing machines - not until end of 1950s consumerism took root
Why does Carter’s suggestion that female domestic labour, the rational housewife, and frugality is evidence of consumerism in early 1950s WG’s not hold up?
Because t actually household management and saving are a prerequisite for commodity purchase - engaging in work preparatory to consumption, rather than consumption itself
What did social psychologists Alexander and Margarethe Mitscherlich describe post-war WG’s ‘inability to mourn’ the victims of fascism, and ‘excessive emotional investment’ in an economic recovery as representing?
Represented a transference or diversion of energy and will away from the political sphere
What did Adenauer say of the WG economic miracle in the 1960s?
a country who has done so much (economic miracle) deserves to no longer hear about the holocaust”
What in the immediate postwar period does rebuilding mean for West Germans?
They are attempting to work and rebuild so the nation could have something to be proud of again
What did the feeling that the economic miracle was built through their hard work mean for WG?
Later consumerism was prideful and nationalistic
In West Germany, what sort of work did women do from the late 1950s?
women confined to least skilled and least runemrative sectors of the labour market
What did female American stars and their outfits boost in Italy?
clothes consumerism
What did the romatsiciatisation of the Italian countryside and beauty in La Dolce Vita do?
1) made Italian glamour and style something to be consumed
2) signalled end of aristocracy as a class with a meaningful role in Italy
In post-war Italy, what was the new and old middle-class?
Socially and geographically segregated
What was Parioli in Rome?
An old middle-class area with tradition cultural values and ideals i.e. religious austere
What was Casal Palocco in Rome?
A new urban area built up in the postwar inspired by the American suburbs
How did the residents of areas like Casal Palocco differ from areas like Parioli in Rome?
They were younger, affluent m-c, more fashionable/less formal relations/ value/ideals
How does mass consumption in 1950s Italy lead to peasant culture becoming outdated?
urban infrastructures and consumer goods dominate Italian mindset over land and the seasons
Who criticised peasant culture in Italy becoming outdated in 1950s?
Pasolini in Mamma Roma
What is evidence of the far-reaching influence of Hollywood glamour on Italian customs?
Beauty contests, dancing, mass interest in the seaside, idea of social mobility all prospered and fuelled the success of illustrated mags like Grand Hotel
What did illustrated mags like Grand Hotel do?
adapted Hollywood ideology for young Italian women
What does the body become in 1950s Italy for young women as promoted in magazines like Grand Hotel and Grazia
a complete source of individual self-fashioning projected towards consumerism/well-being, no longer a political project
What does Ann Oakley’s 1960s study of London highlight?
Household/domestic appliances could actually disempower women and increase their burden
In the postwar West, what did increased living standards and leisure time mean for the home?
It became a place where people spent more time/renewed sense of importance/pride/increased standards and expectations for home and mothering
Why does Oakley’s study suggest the new consumer household of the postwar West could disempower women and increase their burden?
Housewife the one who had to upkeep all of this, and appliances also needed upkeep
What did the prosperity of the postwar period in the West, the rise of mass consumerism, and the beneficent state mean for the youth?
Working-class, esp youth/younger workers, greater access to education and more participation in consumption such as buying motorcycles, rock records, and hip hop clothes reduce their visible differences from m-c youths
How did the beneficent state in the West coincide with the new consumerist postwar terrain to reduce the cohesion of working-class subculture and political power?
Benficient state, unionising of workers holding long-term jobs and involvement in other voluntary associations such as sports clubs due to increased leisure time - also more time and money to consume similar to m-c
What happened to the middle-class in this period in the postwar West?
1) grew in size and importance during the postwar period,
2) transformed compositions and outlook,
3) ecame dominant stratum in postwar West - became example to be emulated
How was the elite changed in the postwar period?
Traditional elites often discredited by wartime collaboration, postwar elite created a new elite which blended various ingredients, incl movie stars, musicians, sports professionals and tycoons who had made great fortunes - centred around levels of wealth, driven by consumerism
Though Eastern European Regimes do not officially or explicitly promote consumerism because it goes against core tenets of Marxist-Leninist society, what to they do?
Regimes do decide to stabilise by expanding offerings in consumer goods
In the 1960s in Eastern Europe, what does the continual expansion of the new class of technocrats lead to?
Regimes begin openly catering to consumer anticipation - state sponsored consumption and individual roads to socialism
How did socialist regimes actually stir consumer longing?
through production and distribution of quality goods, newly spawned leisure venues, and institutions such as the department store
What did Socialist business managers and planners believed retail store could be?
A vehicle of socialist distribution
What was a major departure from the Stalinist conception of young women as political activists and equal workers?
Communist regimes tended to encourage young single women esp. to indulge in pleasures acquiring commodities, engaging in educational leisure, moderate consumerism promoted by state
What did the GDR’s proximity and connection to FDR mean?
GDR forced to compete with West on capitalism’s own terms
What did the GDR’s need to produce inexpensive and practical household goods that would reach the masses but avoid waste and frivolity of West’s consumer products result in?
Plastic products - practical but beautiful fashion
Mercedes vs Trebuchant
What does Greg Castillo note?
from the 1950s the US sponsored home expositions in West Berlin specifically designed to attract East Berliners ft dream homes with modernist furnishings, presenting an idealised vision of the lifestyle of consumer-citizens in the West.
What did East German Party authorities do in response to the US sponsored home expos in West Berlin in the 1950s?
staged socialist home expos to evoke domestic ideal of a cultured proletariat
Before the Berlin Wall goes up in 1961, what did Eastern citizens do?
travelled West to access censured products/entertainments, and consumed Hollywood films, jazz and swing music, nylons and jeans
Following the erection of the Berlin Wall, how did Eastern citizens consume Western lifestyle?
through television
What were East German leadership discussing as early as the 1950s?
The importance of displaying socialist consumer bounty in EG store windows
What existed in East Germany in the 1960s?
state advertising agencies, snazzy product packaging, modern furniture, household decor mags and advice literature, self-service stores, mail-order clearinghouses, state travel bureaus
Why did East German authorities allow citizens to buy non-socialist products with Western money in intershops?
in an attempt to coopt the black market for the profit of the state.
How did official GDR propaganda attempt to fulfil their promises to help lighten women’s task of producing clothes in the home?
Consumer magazines published paper patterns
What did GDR OFfficials admit in the late 1940s/50s?
Home sewing was necessary to compensate for the supposedly temporary shortcomings of GDR’s textile and garment industries
What did women’s engagement in home sewing do?
Robbed women of their precious free time and represented an economically inefficient use of labour c.210-300 million hours annually on hand knitting outerwear alone according to market researchers
What did the 1968 Prague Spring movement originate in?
economics with recognition in 1963 of a faltering economy
Following the Warsaw Pact invasion and crushing of The Prague Spring, how did the regime attempt to ease the angry public?
price subsidies on food, incl. meat, - c-ref Hungary 1956
What did the Polish October of 1953 lead to?
The incorporation of Polish national traditions into the socialist system
What effect did the Polish October 1953 have on the Polish people?
Intellectuals and students begin to crave freedom of speech
Workers expect economic reforms and better working conditions
From 1956 the Polish popular press are no longer focused on promoting building socialism, what is this replaced by?
Goals of modernity and progress
What does the Polish popular press’ promotion of goals of modernity and progress post-1956 mean for citizens?
Consumerism became an acceptable aspiration of the modern socialist citizen c-ref Nobody Leaves
In Poland, new ideas of young womanhood emerge, filled with contradictions. What are they?
Financial independence, pursuit of diverse nondomestic activities, empowerment, not focused on discussing commitment to communitst ideology.
What existed in socialist Bulgaria?
Infrastructure of quality control
What did this infrastructure of quality control in socialist Bulgaria look like?
Institutes studying, mapping, and trying to improve quality of socialist goods.
How did the Bulgartabak in Bulgaria successfully respond to local taste and preferences?
Through market research, branding, and other techniques generally associated with consumerism
What happened to the elite in postwar Eastern Europe?
Old elite shunned, new Party elite emerged and were provided special stores, schools, accomodations, and vacation spots
What choked Soviet sensibilities?
Yugoslavian elites lack of concern at concealing its wealth and privilege early on
What does Havel argue socialist citizens did?
made Faustian deals for increased consumption in return for ideological compliance and social order
According to Havel, though socialist citizens in this period are not calling for capitalism, what happens?
They come to see abundant consumption as a primary signifier of progress
What do the letters from DFD mass woman’s organ in March 1953 to the male leader who is the newly appointed head of a State Commission to deal with trade problems in East Germany detail?
consumers hopes invested in promises offered by socialism and a growing loss of confidence in the govt’s ability fulfil promises for a flourishing consumer economy by 1953
In June 1953, why do workers in East Berlin stage mass protests?
Against work quotas, continued shortages, and the repressive regime of SED
What did the oppressive consumer culture in terms of demands on women’s time encourage in East Germany?
Impulse buying
What is the historical significance of the East German consumer culture encouraging impulse buying?
It went against socialist ideals of ration, planned consumption - more in line with capitalist norm
What percentage of East Germans were impulse buying at this time according to market researchers estimates?
At least 40%
How did East German officials attempt to address their chronic supply problems fail?
The mail-order service initiated to deal with this failed to limit or specialise itself for the target audience of rural props underserved by urban consume
What percentage of all clothing in circulation East Germany came from the West?
20-30%
What did the letter from a Pankow resident in the DFD say?
“it is known that empty cooking pots play a more important role for housewives than the greatest political events. Even Stalin’s severe illness recedes into the background.”
What does the Pankow resident’s letter allude to?
Women tended to filter their political consciousness through the lens of chronic consumer issues
What was a common path for female political involvement in East Germany?
the conjunction of consumption and politics
Until the end of the 1950s, what proportion of East German population could find ready to wear apparel that fit them?
⅓ of women and girls and 60% of boys
For many East German women, what was more costly than the price of goods?
The time/effort/frustration in searching for specific items
By the end of the 1960s, what solutions had women improvised to deal with the oppressive consumer culture in East Germany?
Making things at home - virtually all home made garments were made by women
What proportion of outerwear were individually made by the end of the 1960s in East Germany?
Over 1/3
What is there a desire for and advocacy of during The Prague Spring?
Socialism with a human face and desire for jazz clubs and miniskirts
What did the Polish League of women do to protest price hikes on food products especially meat?
by urging less meat consumption
What did the Polish League of women’s protest deliberately gloss over?
real economic problem of meat shortages
What was Filipinka?
The first and only magazine girls in 1960s Poland widely read by young working women and university students
What is proof of Filipnika’s popularity?
early 60s 250k+ copies of each edition sold out
What did a 1962 young female textile worker write in her autobiography?
that travelling was more important to her than getting married and starting a family. Indicated socially unacceptable and “they want me to stay at home but I have a different opinion after all we fought for equal rights!”
What did 1960s Poland see the rapid growth of?
TV ownership
By 1966 what proportion of the Polish population was reached through television?
⅓ of population reached through 2m+ registered tv sets
What did the low numbers of domestic Polish, and Eastern European productions mean Polish citizens were reliant on for television consumption?
American films and mini series
What did the reliance on American films and mini series for Polish television do?
It provided a glimpse into Western and American lifestyles
What is the historical cultural significance of the reliance on American films and miniseries in Poland?
This western/American lifestyle influenced popular culture and had a significant impact in shaping young Poles
What does Sofia Bystzycka describe 1960s Poland as?
a breakthrough in the history of humanity marked by unprecedented opportunities available to young women in education and wage work
Were socialist women concerned with cosmetics, hairstyling, and fashion?
They were not supposed to be but in reality women across the regions ignored this ideology especially young women
Does young women ignoring the ideology that they are supposed to be unconcerned with cosmetics etc suggest they were supporting capitalist consumerism?
No, they saw no contradictions and still believed in socialism
