The American bourgeoisie : distinction and identity in the nineteenth century / [edited by] Sven Beckert and Julia B. Rosenbaum.
What precisely constitutes an American bourgeoisie? Scholars have grappled with the question for a long time. Economic positions - the ownership of capital, for instance - most obviously defines this group. Control of resources cannot explain, however, the emergence of shared identities or the capac...
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| Online Access: |
Full Text (via Springer) |
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Palgrave Macmillan,
2010.
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| Edition: | 1st ed. |
| Series: | Palgrave studies in cultural and intellectual history.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | What precisely constitutes an American bourgeoisie? Scholars have grappled with the question for a long time. Economic positions - the ownership of capital, for instance - most obviously defines this group. Control of resources cannot explain, however, the emergence of shared identities or the capacity for collective action: after all, economic interests frequently drove capital/rich Americans apart as they competed for markets or governmental favors. This book argues that one of the most important factors in this respect was the articulation of a shared culture, but this aspect has been neglected by most scholarship on the issue. This volume engages a fundamental disciplinary question about this period in American history: how did the bourgeoisie consolidate their power and fashion themselves not simply as economic leaders but as cultural innovators and arbiters? How did culture help them formulate a sense of themselves as a distinct social group with shared identities, while simultaneously setting themselves apart from other Americans? |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (ix, 284 pages) : illustrations. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780230115569 023011556X 9781349287512 1349287512 |