Libelle and Margriet Lead the Way: Turning Dutch Women into Mrs. Consumer-Citizens in the Early Years of the Cold War

Advisors: Lisa S. Tiersten (Columbia), N. Piers Ludlow (LSE)

Christmas issue of the Dutch magazine Margriet, December 1957.

Monique researched the emergence of a mass consumer society in the Netherlands in the early years of the Cold War (1948-1968). She specifically focused on uncovering the role of the United States (in the context of Cold War geopolitics) and the role of the every-day Dutch housewife. Her dissertation connected phenomena that had not previously been linked in histories of the Netherlands, operating at the intersections of Cold War soft power, gender, and consumerism. Monique addressed her research questions primarily through the lens of two Dutch women's magazines, that at the time reached three-quarters of the Dutch population. She analyzed these magazines extensively, but also relied on other primary source material, such as letters, newspapers, and research reports.