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9781469671505 Academic Inspection Copy

American Dreams, American Nightmares

Culture and Crisis in Residential Real Estate from the Great Recession to the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Two decades punctuated by the financial crisis of the Great Recession and the public health crisis of COVID-19 have powerfully reshaped housing in America. By integrating social, economic, intellectual, and cultural histories, this illuminating work shows how powerful forces have both reflected and catalyzed shifts in the way Americans conceptualize what a house is for, in an era that has laid bare the larger structures and inequities of the economy. Daniel Horowitz casts an expansive net over a wide range of materials and sources. He shows how journalists and anthropologists have explored the impact of global economic forces on housing, while filmmakers have depicted the home as a theater where danger lurks as elites gamble with the fates of the less fortunate. Real estate workshops and popular TV networks like HGTV teach home buyers how to flip-or flop-while online platforms like Airbnb make it possible to play house in someone else's home. And as the COVID pandemic took hold, many who had never imagined living out every moment at home found themselves cocooned there thanks to corporations like Amazon, Zoom, and Netflix.
Daniel Horowitz is Mary Huggins Gamble Professor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Smith College. He is the author of many books, including Entertaining Entrepreneurs: Reality TV's "Shark Tank" and the American Dream in Uncertainty Times.
Horowitz takes readers through a deep dive into the history and culture of residential real estate in the United States. . . . This book offers a distinctive contribution to housing studies by combining the Great Recession with the COVID-19 housing crisis and situating them within a larger historical framework. . . . . The work provides an interdisciplinary investigation from cultural anthropology, history, sociology, economics, and political science."--Journal of the American Planning Association Sharp and thoughtful . . . A good and provocative read. . . . Highly recommended."--CHOICE
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