Consumers in the Country
Technology and Social Change in Rural America
Published on 23. June 2000
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-8018-6248-9 (ISBN)
Description
From 1900 to 1960, the introduction and development of four so-called urbanizing technologies-the telephone, automobile, radio, and electric light and power-transformed the rural United States. But did these new technologies revolutionize rural life in the ways modernizers predicted? And how exactly-and with what levels of resistance and acceptance-did this change take place? In Consumers in the Country Ronald R. Kline, avoiding the trap of technological determinism, explores the changing relationships among the Country Life professionals, government agencies, sales people, and others who promoted these technologies and the farm families who largely succeeded in adapting them to rural culture.
Reviews / Votes
Kline's work is strong in a number of areas... The study is a well written and well researched compilation... and should be standard reading for those interested in the transformation of rural America in the twentieth century. -- Allen Shepherd Nebraska History Kline fills a real gap in our understanding of the ways rural Americans incorporated technology into their daily lives. -- Melissa Walker Journal of American History His social historical-technological approach makes any historical study of technology ultimately much more valuable. -- Tyler O. Walters Journal of Illinois History Kline's work is a welcome addition to this body of scholarship. -- Pamela Riney-Kehrberg Kansas History Consumers in the Country provides an important and very welcome venture into both the history of consumption patterns-an underdeveloped subject in our field-and nonurban people. -- Deborah Fitzgerald Technology and Culture Careful, meticulously researched, and well written. -- David Blanke Annals of Iowa This extremely thorough presentation presents a clear picture of how industries changed, and were changed by, farm families. Choice Consumers in the Country makes important contributions to scholarship in the history and theory of technology and the social history of rural life. -- Mark Finlay History: Reviews of New Books Well-researched, entertaining, and generally convincing. -- Brian Q. Cannon Western Historical Quarterly Kline does a fine job in describing the ways in which rural people made new technologies part of their lives, noting regional, class, and gender implications. His writing is clear, thoughtful, intelligent, and often highly amusing. -- Jeanette Keith Journal of Appalachian Studies Kline's presentation of farmers as historical actors who controlled acceptance of technology on their own terms is valuable and should inform future studies of agricultural communities. -- Barbara Handy-Marchello Great Plains Research 2003 A welcome addition. -- Pamela Riney-Kehrberg Kansas HistoryMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
7 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 4 s/w Zeichnungen
4 Line drawings, black and white; 7 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
652 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8018-6248-9 (9780801862489)
DOI
10.56021/9780801862489
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2002
Johns Hopkins University Press
€40.10
Article not available for order
Person
Ronald R. Kline is a professor of history of technology at Cornell University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Science and Technology Studies and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Urban Technology and Rural Reform
Chapter 1. (Re)inventing the Telephone
Chapter 2. Taming the Devil Wagon
Chapter 3. Defining Modernity in the Home
Chapter 4. Tuning In The Country
Part II: A New Deal In Rural Electrification
Chapter 5. Creating the REA
Chapter 6. Struggling for Local Autonomy
Chapter 7. Lights in the Country
Part III: Postwar Consumerism
Chapter 8. Completing the Job
Chapter 9. (Re)forming Rural Life
Conclusion. Consumers All?
Appendix
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliographical and Methodological Note
Index
Introduction
Part I: Urban Technology and Rural Reform
Chapter 1. (Re)inventing the Telephone
Chapter 2. Taming the Devil Wagon
Chapter 3. Defining Modernity in the Home
Chapter 4. Tuning In The Country
Part II: A New Deal In Rural Electrification
Chapter 5. Creating the REA
Chapter 6. Struggling for Local Autonomy
Chapter 7. Lights in the Country
Part III: Postwar Consumerism
Chapter 8. Completing the Job
Chapter 9. (Re)forming Rural Life
Conclusion. Consumers All?
Appendix
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliographical and Methodological Note
Index