The Modernist Enterprise

"For the tradition-bound French elites of pre-World War I and the interwar period, modernity presented itself as a series of questions about France's place in a newly competitive industrial world and about their positions as the leaders and managers of a mass society.".

"The book analyzes the elites' response to a series of challenges to the old order: the establishment of mass democracy, the new role of workers and the middle classes in shaping public opinion, burgeoning technological possibilities, and, most importantly, the rise of American-style consumer capitalism. The author shows how business and commercial elites tried simultaneously to appropriate and divert these new forces, balancing tradition with a cautious acceptance of various elements of modernity.

The author explores this terrain by focusing on the changing character of advertising, the evolution of the French press, the growth of scientific management, the role of the Social Catholic movement in opening up different kinds and channels of mass communication, and the development of ideas of state planning and industrial rationalization."--BOOK JACKET.