A focus on the self and individuated self-realization has become the dominant, hegemonic ideology of a mature consumer culture. You can explore this phenomenon from a number of directions. For instance, youth cultures continue to be exploited by advertising and brands. Bodily self-optimization has become a moral and spiritual imperative for some brands. Since the 1980’s there has been a noted shift in how people are encouraged to consider the political and social world. Where once collective action was the dominant mode of considering how social change occurs, in today’s neoliberal context, the market – as opposed to organized labour politics – is now the dominant forum to express individuated social concern.
Explore the self in promotional discourses of contemporary consumer culture
1) Sarah Banet-Weiser’s work on consumer citizenship begins with a compelling question: what does it mean to be an activist in a world where social identities and social activism are promotional commodities? In this essay consider how this provocation applies to the current discussion and representation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Using 3-5 contemporary advertisements, explore the tensions, contradictions, and ambivalence of branded activism and corporate endorsements of #BLM.
2) In the wake of Covid-19, companies and advertisers around the world have responded en-masse with appeals of social solidarity, mutual aid, and signifiers of individual, collective, and corporate compassion. How does a discussion of branded activism help us understand the underlying logic of these appeals? What are the ideological implications?
- How do brands fold empowerment into consumption by producing discourses of consumer choice, hyper-individualism, self-care, and self-optimization under the guidance of the brand?
- How are consumers addressed as responsible for their own well-being as well as the well-being of their communities and the world?
- How does personal fitness translate to civic participation? How self-transformation represented as spiritual activism rooted in the body?
