Commodity Activism

<p>Buying (RED) products—from Gap T-shirts to Apple—to fight AIDS. <br>Drinking a “Caring Cup” of coffee at the Coffee Bean &amp; Tea Leaf to <br>support fair trade. Driving a Toyota Prius to fight global warming. All <br>these commonplace activities point to a central feature of contemporary <br>culture: the most common way we participate in social activism is by <br>buying something. <br><br><br><br>Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser have gathered an exemplary <br>group of scholars to explore this new landscape through a series of case<br> studies of “commodity activism.” Drawing from television, film, <br>consumer activist campaigns, and cultures of celebrity and corporate <br>patronage, the essays take up examples such as the Dove “Real Beauty” <br>campaign, sex positive retail activism, ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, and<br> Angelina Jolie as multinational celebrity missionary.<br><br><br><br><br><br>Exploring the complexities embedded in contemporary political activism, Commodity Activism<br> reveals the workings of power and resistance as well as citizenship and<br> subjectivity in the neoliberal era. Refusing to simply position <br>politics in opposition to consumerism, this collection teases out the <br>relationships between material cultures and political subjectivities, <br>arguing that activism may itself be transforming into a branded <br>commodity.</p>