Great Depression and the Middle Class: Experts, Collegiate Youth and Business Ideology, 1929-1941 (Studies in American Popular History and Culture)

Great Depression and the Middle Class: Experts, Collegiate Youth and Business Ideology, 1929-1941 explores how middle-class college students navigated the rocky terrain of Depression-era culture, job market, dating marketplace, prospective marriage prospects, and college campuses by using expert-penned advice and business ideology to make sense of their situation. Great Depression And The Middle Class : Experts, Collegiate Youth And Business Ideology, 1929-1941 -- Why Are We Here? How Do We Sell It? -- Life On Campus, 1930-1934 -- Selling Out Or Buying In : Ritual, Tradition And Standardization, 1931-1935 -- The Marketplace Of Romance : Rating And Dating, 1935-1940 -- The Price Of Wedded Bliss : Companionate Marriage And Its Discontents, 1935-1940. Mary C. Mccomb. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 187-194) And Index. While many historians have contended that America took a leftward turn during the economically turbulent 1930s, McComb demonstrates that college students adopted the language of the marketplace, the logic of capitalism, and the process of self-commodification to make sense of their situation and to erect social barriers to protect a threatened middle-class status.