The Defense of Consumption: Advertising, gender and citizenship in Sweden during World War II
Details
- Funder: Swedish Research Council
Description
World War II has been identified as the first war in history fought by and between consumer societies. The aim of this project is to show how Swedish consumer society was maintained and transformed in relation during these years of crisis. In order to do so we study the adaptation of advertising and window dressing, national gift-giving campaigns, the use of rationing and political debates about consumer taxes and price control.
We use advertising press, weekly magazines, state archives, reports and industry publications to analyse change and continuity in Swedish consumer culture in the shadow of the war. The findings will contribute to four major fields of international research: consumer cultural studies of WWII, gender and consumer culture history, gendered military history, and media and advertising history. The project began in 2019 and will conclude in December 2024.