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Inventing the "American Way" - The Politics of Consensus from the New Deal to the Civil Rights Movement (Paperback)
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Inventing the "American Way" - The Politics of Consensus from the New Deal to the Civil Rights Movement (Paperback)
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In the wake of World War II, Americans developed an unusually deep
and all-encompassing national unity, as postwar affluence and the
Cold War combined to naturally produce a remarkable level of
agreement about the nation's core values. Or so the story has long
been told. Inventing the"American Way" challenges this vision of
inevitable consensus. Americans, as Wendy Wall argues in this
innovative book, were united, not so much by identical beliefs, as
by a shared conviction that a distinctive "American Way" existed
and that the affirmation of such common ground was essential to the
future of the nation. Moreover, the roots of consensus politics lie
not in the Cold War era, but in the turbulent decade that preceded
U.S. entry into World War II. The social and economic chaos of the
Depression years alarmed a diverse array of groups, as did the rise
of two "alien" ideologies: fascism and communism. In this context,
Americans of divergent backgrounds and beliefs seized on the notion
of a unifying "American Way" and sought to convince their fellow
citizens of its merits.
Wall traces the competing efforts of business groups, politicians,
leftist intellectuals, interfaith proponents, civil rights
activists, and many others over nearly three decades to shape
public understandings of the "American Way." Along the way, she
explores the politics behind cultural productions ranging from The
Adventures of Superman to the Freedom Train that circled the nation
in the late 1940s. She highlights the intense debate that erupted
over the term "democracy" after World War II, and identifies the
origins of phrases such as "free enterprise" and the
"Judeo-Christian tradition" that remain central to American
political life. By uncovering the culture wars of the mid-twentieth
century, this book sheds new light on a period that proved pivotal
for American national identity and that remains the unspoken
backdrop for debates over multiculturalism, national unity, and
public values today.
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