Are We Rich Yet?
The Rise of Mass Investment Culture in Contemporary Britain
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of California Press
Published:8th Jul '22
Should be back in stock very soon
An in-depth history of how finance remade everyday life in Thatcher's Britain.
Are We Rich Yet? tells the story of the financialization of British society. During the 1980s and 1990s, financial markets became part of daily life for many Britons as the practice of investing moved away from the offices of the City of London, onto Britain’s high streets, and into people’s homes. The Conservative Party claimed this shift as evidence that capital ownership was in the process of being democratized. In practice, investing became more institutionalized than ever in late-twentieth-century Britain: inclusion frequently meant tying one’s fortunes to the credit, insurance, pension, and mortgage industries to maintain independence from state-run support systems.
In tracing the rise of a consumer-oriented mass investment culture, historian Amy Edwards explains how the "financial" became such a central part of British society, not only economically and politically, but socially and culturally, too. She shifts our focus away from the corridors of Whitehall and towards a cast of characters that included brokers, bankers and traders, newspaper editors, goods manufacturers, marketing departments, production companies, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women. Between them, they shaped the terrain upon which political and economic reform occurred. Grappling with the interactions between structural transformation and the rhythms of everyday life, Are We Rich Yet? thus understands the rise of neoliberalism as something other than the inevitable outcome of a carefully orchestrated right-wing political revolution.
"One consequence of depicting neoliberalism as the product of a multifaceted process involving many actors and causal factors is that the prospect of undertaking meaningful reform starts to look daunting. But Edwards shows us that the central difficulty is a cultural one: we have been taught for many years to live our lives as consumers rather than citizens." * London Review of Books *
"Taken as a whole, Edwards’ reconnaissance into this area is a masterly mix of disciplines, approaches and sources that will reward many re-readings. The revolution of habits and outlooks that was the hallmark of the 1980s do require those sensitive cross-disciplinary approaches: Edwards shows others how it should be done." * Contemporary British History *
"This book is an excellent addition to the history of stock market investment in the UK during the past 50 or so years. It gives needed coverage to important but overlooked topics such as shareholder perks and OTC traders." * EH.net *
"Are We Rich Yet? is a compelling and original study that historicizes investment culture in modern Britain." * Journal of British Studies *
"Edwards uses varied and exciting sources to illustrate the penetration of the financial world and its ethos into everyday life. . . . As Edwards clearly shows, new players and new businesses soon fell victim to an oligopoly of the largest banks and financial institutions, leaving individual investors largely dependent on new iterations of the old elite. . . . Highly recommended."
* CHOICE *
ISBN: 9780520385467
Dimensions: 210mm x 140mm x 36mm
Weight: 680g
384 pages