Packaging Feminism for Capitalism’s Purposes: Dialectic Interplays Among Feminisms, Consumerism, and Organizing

• In Event: (Re)Constructions of Organizing and Organization

Abstract

Communication scholars have called for research that embeds organizations within diverse socio-political, cultural, and economic environments. This study explores how an independent media business that publishes a feminist culture magazine navigates consumerism-feminism tensions. Our analysis highlights how feminism is packaged for capitalism’s purpose and articulates a shifting dialectic matrix of discursive-material tensions: feminism as consumer choice, fashion forward feminism, and feminist entrepreneurship. These tensions highlight the complexities of organizing, political economies, feminisms, resistance, and consumerism.

Authors

• Suzy D'Enbeau, University of Kansas

• Patrice Buzzanell, Purdue University