Social, political and Cultural Change An overview of American Post- WW2 History

WW2, a catalyst for change During the war African-Americans and women was a labor reserve in American industry. Instrumental in the war effort. Women wanted to work outside the home. African-Americans wanted their full citizenship rights. The working class (AFL-CIO) wanted a new political and economic system. Industrial unionism, a partnership btw organized labor and industrialists in a new economic order.

Images of race and gender during and after WW2

Social Change during the Period Sweeping structural change in American economy, a new class structure. General economic prosperity Internal Migration from rural areas to cities and Cities to suburbs. Cold War context. Progressive forces disarmed by (among other things) division over race and class issues.

Class and the labor market Changes in the economy led to changes in class structure. Companies larger, more complex products. Change from Manufacturing to clerical, service and sales Fewer workers members of unions. The labor movement (AFL/CIO) under political attack in the Cold War context. Roll back of labor legislation during 40s and 50s. Foreign policy affected the possibility for social reform at home.

Union growth and decline

Economic Prosperity Better real wages Better housing (growth of Suburbs) Better working conditions Earlier to start families Government program for American Soldiers after WW2 BUT not everybody affected.

Suburb and society of mass consumption

Gender Gender backlash during the 1950s, the ideal of the housewife strong, replaces Rosie the Riveter. BUT women enters labor market in certain sectors of the economy. Extra work to pay for increased family consumption.

Labor market changes

Race An intense struggle against prejudice starts directly after the war. Few gains during the 1940s. NAACP increasingly active during the early 1950s (the legislative Route for Civil Rights) Montgomery Bus Boycott Roots of the Civil Rights Movement in the South.

Political ”trends” Harry S Truman (Democrat), Ike D Eisenhower (Republican), John F Kennedy (Democrat), Lyndon B Johnson (democrat), Richard Nixon (Republican),

The Liberal Consensus forged during late 40s and early 50s The Connection between Free capitalism and Democracy. Nothing in American society required radical change. A Growing Economy would adress any problems. Consensus based on anti-communism.

Political establishment Non-responsive to Equal Rights and the Civil Rights Struggle during the 1940s and 1950s. Splintering of New Deal Coalitions over race issue. Dixiecrats Reform coalition falls apart. Eisenhower era, consensus “The Great Problem of America Today is to take that straight road down the middle”. “What’s good for GM business is good for America”. Certain Social Reform work but politics focussed on Economic Growth and dominated by Foreign Policy issues.

Political establishment ”The New Frontier” is defined by JFK. LBJs vision of ”The Great Society”. Pressured ”from below”, the CR- movement, the Student Movement etc. The establishment starts to implement reforms to increase black voting and to protect women’s interest. The LBJ administration is continuing the work started under JFK.

Political establishment The Voice of the ”Silent Majority” Richard Nixon a new course in American Politics, promises Law and Order to a white majority and an end to ”social experiments”. Cut-back on social programs, a damp on CR- work. Vietnamization of the war in Vietnam decreases foreign spending. ”there are those who want instant integration and those who want segregation forever. I believe we need to have a middle course between those two extremes. (Richard Nixon)

Race in the Labor Market

Introduction to exercise on culture Popular Culture- Counterculture There was a general feeling [in the Sixties] that the platitudes of Americanism were horseshit (Joseph Heller) Gender Roles - I Love Lucy Two Ford Freedom 's TV Ad Paul Anka Diana