Governing Prosperity : Social Change and Social Analysis in Australia in the 1950s

The 1950s' undeniable prosperity has become synonymous with conservatism, and inertia seen as its hallmark.

This book offers a fresh and challenging interpretation of the 1950s in Australia.

Nicholas Brown presents the decade as a time of great change, brought about by affluence.

Society became increasingly complex, mass consumption reached new heights and Australia's role in the world and the region was re-cast.

The book looks at the ways in which those overseeing society responded to these post-war changes; in short, how they governed prosperity.

A history of ideas as well as cultural, intellectual and institutional history, Governing Prosperity is a major reassessment of the 1950s.

It will be particularly important for its analysis of the significance of the decade in the development of Australian society.