Governing Prosperity: Social Change and Social Analysis in Australia in the 1950s

by Nicholas Brown

Overview

The 1950s' undeniable prosperity has become synonymous with conservatism, and inertia seen as its hallmark. This book offers a fresh and challenging interpretation of the 1950s in Australia. Nicholas Brown presents the decade as a time of great change, brought about by affluence. Society became increasingly complex, mass consumption reached new heights and Australia's role in the world and the region was re-cast. The book looks at the ways in which those overseeing society responded to these post-war changes; in short, how they governed prosperity. A history of ideas as well as cultural, intellectual and institutional history, Governing Prosperity is a major reassessment of the 1950s. It will be particularly important for its analysis of the significance of the decade in the development of Australian society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521477321
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1995
Series:	Studies in Australian History
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. A part of Asia; 2. 'A test of our quality as a nation'; 3. The milk bar economy; 4. Decentralisation and the organisation of life; 5. Concepts of self and society; 6. 'A community with a climate of its own'; Notes; Index.