Imagining Conformity: Consumption and Sameness in the Postwar African American Suburbs
Author(s): Paul R. Mullins; Timo Ylimaunu
Year: 2015
Summary
In the wake of World War II many Americans settled in suburbs that have been persistently derided for their apparent social, material, and class homogeneity. This paper examines the African American experience of post-World War II suburbanization and the attractions of suburban life for African America. The paper examines an Indianapolis, Indiana subdivision that placed consumption at the heart of postwar citizenship. Rather than frame such suburban materiality simply as resistance to anti-Black racism, the study illuminates the African American imagination of visual and material "sameness" and underscores the challenges of an archaeological focus on stylistic distinction.
Cite this Record
Imagining Conformity: Consumption and Sameness in the Postwar African American Suburbs. Paul R. Mullins, Timo Ylimaunu. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 433739)
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Keywords
General
African American Archaeology
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Consumption
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Suburbia
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
20th Century
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 57