World of Homeowners
American Power and the Politics of Housing Aid
Is there anything more American than the ideal of homeownership? In this groundbreaking work of transnational history, Nancy H. Kwak reveals how the concept of homeownership became one of America's major exports and defining characteristics around the world. In the aftermath of World War II, American advisers urged countries to pursue greater access to homeownership, arguing it would give families a literal stake in their nations, jumpstart a productive home-building industry, fuel economic growth, and raise the standard of living in their countries, helping to ward off the specter of communism".A World of Homeowners" charts the emergence of democratic homeownership in the postwar landscape and booming economy; its evolution as a tool of foreign policy and a vehicle for international investment in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s; and the growth of lower-income homeownership programs in the United States from the 1960s to today. Kwak unravels all these threads, detailing the complex stories and policy struggles that emerged from a particularly American vision for global democracy and capitalism. Ultimately, she argues, the question of who should own homes where – and how – is intertwined with the most difficult questions about economy, government, and society.
Contents:
Introduction
1. Building a New American Model of Homeownership
2. Combatting Communism with Homeownership
3. Homeownership in an Era of Decolonization
4. Homeownership as Investment
5. Fair Homeownership
6. A Homeownership Consensus?
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Index
About the Author
Nancy H. Kwak is assistant professor of history and urban studies and planning at the University of California, San Diego.
Reviews
"'A World of Homeowners' is a persuasive, solidly researched, and synthetic interpretation of America's role in the promulgation of international housing in the postwar period. Kwak presents an ambitious study – one that is well-written, clearly organized, and draws on many original and long-neglected archival sources. The book adds an important dimension not only to our understanding of the history of U. S. housing policy, but also to its postwar international role" – Richard Harris, author of "Building a Market: The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 1914-1960"
"In 'The World of Homeowners' Kwak connects all the dots, revealing the networks that allowed America's visions of homeownership to spread across the world. Based on research that touches on all continents, she uncovers how the United States peddled a state-sponsored segregationist program as a 'free-market' universalistic 'American Dream' to policy-makers just about everywhere. What emerges is not only a masterpiece of transnational urban history, but a meditation on the shape-shifting power of a nation state in the global age. If you're a believer in the great healing powers of homeownership, you must wrestle deeply with Kwak's skeptical and incisive analysis" – Carl Nightingale, author of "Segregation: a Global History of Divided Cities"
"'A World of Homeowners' is a game-changer – one of the most important books on housing published in the last decade. Kwak offers a brilliant study of the internationalization of US housing policy, with a richly drawn cast of characters and a deep dive into the construction of soft imperialism. We'll be looking back at this book for years to come as a point of departure for how housing became integral to the making of a global American imaginary" – Joseph Heathcott, The New School
