Consumption and finance in the United States from the colonial age to the modern day

elective courses

Students should have some basic knowledge of American history and culture.

Classroom

The course focuses on the role that consumption and finance play in American society. Offering an overview of various historical developments since the Colonial period, it provides information on changes and developments in retail, advertising, and the financial industry. It will discuss the changes in how Americans viewed consumption and associated topics and discuss the goods that they bought and used in their appropriate cultural contexts. The course also discusses the major financial crises in US history along with their significance as well as influence on the nation’s economy.

The course provides a historic overview of consumption and finance in the United States from the colonial period to the present day. Paying particular attention to the historical and cultural context, the course will discuss the changes and developments observed in consumer culture, including such topics as retail, the financial industry, and advertising (development of window displays, print advertising, common themes, controversies, significant people [George Lois, Dave Bernbach, Draper Daniels, Helen Lansdowne Resor, L. Frank Baum, Mary Wells Lawrence, Leo Burnett]). The course is be organized predominantly historically and begins with the appearance of early capitalism. It then discusses migration to the colonies in America in their economic perspective, and the prospects that this offered the colonists. The role of consumption in the formation of an American national identity will also be discussed. Then, the course will discuss the debates about the economic development of the US in the early Federalism era as represented by the federalist debates, but also practical problems such as choice of currency and methods of financing federal initiatives, including the events that led to the establishment of the First Bank of America. Then attention will be given to the Jacksonian market revolution, the first industrial revolution in the US, the end of (at least until the early 20th century) central banking in America, as well as the economic impact of westward expansion. The economic aspects of the Civil War, including the impact they had on retail, transportation, and consumer goods. After this, the emergence of consumer capitalism will be the central topic, along with its impact on consumption, its increasingly closer association with freedom, as well as the changes this introduced in advertising, retail, and consumption patterns, as well as the rapid growth of the middle class that was a direct result. The discussions of the 20th century will follow a similar pattern, noting the plethora of consumer goods available on the market, the impact this had on the everyday lives of Americans. The neoliberal period will also be discussed in this context. In terms of the 21st century, chief focus will be given to the growing importance of digital technologies, and their effects.

Other topics discussed in association with each period will include the appearance and impact of new financial instruments, the effect of major financial crises (1792, 1819, 1837, 1869, 1873 (the Long Depression), 1907, 1929 (and the Great Depression), the stagflation of the 1970s, 1987, 2007-8; less significant crises will also be mentioned).

Appleby, Joyce. Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 2000.

Appleby, Joyce. The Relentless Revolution. A History of Capitalism. New York and London: W. W. Norton, 2010.

Barnum P. T., The Art of Money Making, or Golden Rules for Making Money. Public Domain.

Blaszczyk, Regina Lee. American Consumer Society, 1865-2005. From Hearth to HDTV. Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, 2009.

Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The National Experience. New York, Vintage: 1965

Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York, Vintage: 1974

Breen, T.H. The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York: Vintage Books, 2008.

Cross, Gary. An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.

Franklin, Benjamin. Franklin’s Way to Wealth, or Poor Richard Improved. London: W. and T. Darton, 1810.

Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street. A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Glickman, Lawrence B., ed. Consumer Society in American History: A Reader. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1999.

Larsen, John Lauritz. The Market Revolution in America: Liberty Ambition, and the Eclipse of the Common Good. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Leach, William R. Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture. New York: Vintage, 2011.

McGovern, Charles. Sold American: Consumption and Citizenship, 1890-1945. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2006.

Rimini, Robert V. The Jacksonian Era. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, Inc.,1997.

Scanlon, Jennifer, The Gender and Consumer Culture Reader. New York: NYU Press.

Sellers, Charles. The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815-1846. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Other Writings. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.

Knowledge:

understand the key terminology, well-established methods and theories pertaining to consumer culture;

describe methodology and recent developments in consumer culture studies;

describe on an advanced level the historical and political developments informing consumer culture and the US economy.

Abilities:

employ the terminology and methodological tools from consumer studies;

analyze phenomena associated with consumer culture and draw generalizations on their basis with respect to the social, historical and economic context

implement knowledge to describe a problem and analyze it in the field of consumer studies;

Social competences:

apply the skill to critically assess communicated content to think and act independently in various social situations;

function effectively in social and cultural interactions, through various forms and media, thanks to the ability to express oneself in a cohesive and lucid manner.

Language competences are improved towards a B2+ level.

In-class activity, presentation, final test.

Retake is in the form of an oral exam. Retakes only apply if the student receives a non-passing grade from the final exam.

Maximum number of absences: 3.