chadkoh reviewed The age of acquiescence by Steve Fraser
Review of 'The age of acquiescence' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I would have gotten more out of this book had I had access to the footnotes (I listened to the audiobook) and if I had more grounding in US politics. Fraser drops a lot of names and events that are not explained, turning the book into an endless list of foggy references, broken up by the introduction of various types of capitalism (primitive, flexible, family, etc) that aren't really defined that well.
It was valuable to read this after reading Piketty, which hinges on WWII, and the perceived equality gains during that time. This book focuses on the bookends, the "long" 19th C and the rise of neoliberalism since the 1980s and their similarities in inequality.
I think this book was excellent in concept, but not in execution. It would have made a good longread essay in a fancy magazine... but otherwise I just felt lost in all the details. …
I would have gotten more out of this book had I had access to the footnotes (I listened to the audiobook) and if I had more grounding in US politics. Fraser drops a lot of names and events that are not explained, turning the book into an endless list of foggy references, broken up by the introduction of various types of capitalism (primitive, flexible, family, etc) that aren't really defined that well.
It was valuable to read this after reading Piketty, which hinges on WWII, and the perceived equality gains during that time. This book focuses on the bookends, the "long" 19th C and the rise of neoliberalism since the 1980s and their similarities in inequality.
I think this book was excellent in concept, but not in execution. It would have made a good longread essay in a fancy magazine... but otherwise I just felt lost in all the details.
I picked up this book based on an excellent article by Jill Lepore about inequality in America. That is certainly worth reading. Much more accessible than Fraser's book.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/16/richer-and-poorer
I would also recommend this article from The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/why-workers-wont-unite/386228/
