Dr. Jan Stöckmann
This project explores the cultural factors that have made economic growth an almost universal standard since the end of the Second World War. Taking post-war Germany as a starting point, it examines how the idea of growth was spread by a set of transnational actors, such as managers, educators, and development workers. Within this context, it focuses on the norms and practices that have shaped our professional and private lives well into the twenty-first century. The project is based on several case studies, ranging from productivity trainings in the late 1940s to the movement for green growth. To illustrate the evolution of growth-oriented society, it uses a variety of primary sources, such as marketing brochures, school curricula, and trade union reports, that reflect the rhetorical and visual trends underpinning the status of GDP. By taking a historical approach to a debate dominated by economists and political scientists, it sheds light on the subtle factors that have shaped what one might call the ‘productive society’.
Letzte Änderung: 24. November 2021