Title A Cold War state of mind : brainwashing and postwar American society / Matthew W. Dunne

Published Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, 2013

Click on the following:
EBSCO eBooks
ProQuest Ebook Central

Copies

Description 1 online resource Series Culture, Politics, and the Cold War Culture, politics, and the Cold War. Contents "There is no 'behind the lines' any longer." -- From brain warfare to Hsi Nao -- The many faces of the communist enemy -- Korean War POWs and a reevaluation of the national character -- Motherhood and male autonomy during the Cold War -- "A disquieting invasion of our mental domain." -- Hidden persuaders on the home front -- The limits of individuality in postwar America -- The legacy of brain warfare Summary "First popularized during the 1950s, the concept of "brainwashing" is often viewed as an example of Cold War paranoia, an amusing relic of a bygone era. Yet as Matthew W. Dunne shows in this study, over time brainwashing came to connote much more than a sinister form of Communist mind control, taking on broader cultural and political meanings. Moving beyond well-known debates over Korean War POWs and iconic cultural texts like The Manchurian Candidate, Dunne explores the impact of the idea of brainwashing on popular concerns about freedom, individualism, loyalty, and trust in authority. By the late 1950s the concept had been appropriated into critiques of various aspects of American life such as an insistence on conformity, the alleged "softening" of American men, and rampant consumerism fueled by corporate advertising that used "hidden" or "subliminal" forms of persuasion. Because of these associations and growing anxieties about the potential misuse of psychology, concerns about brainwashing contributed to a new emphasis on individuality and skepticism toward authority in the 1960s. The notion even played an unusual role in the 1968 presidential race, when Republican frontrunner George Romney's claim that he had been "brainwashed" about the Vietnam War by the Johnson administration effectively destroyed his campaign. In addition to analyzing the evolving meaning of brainwashing over an extended period of time, A Cold War State of Mind explores the class and gender implications of the idea, such as the assumption that working-class POWs were more susceptible to mind control and that women were more easily taken in by the manipulations of advertisers."--Publisher's website Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes English Print version record Subject Brainwashing -- United States -- History -- 20th century Cold War -- Social aspects -- United States Cold War -- Influence. Politics and culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century Political culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century SOCIAL SCIENCE -- General. Brainwashing Civilization Political culture Politics and culture Popular culture Social aspects War -- Influence SUBJECT United States -- Civilization -- 1945- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85139945 Subject United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781613762813 161376281X

  Permalink