Consumption as Changemaking and Producers as Artists

Bibliographic Data

ID4052129
AuthorsDebjani Chakravarty (0000-0002-1920-8472, corresponding author), Christine Standish
Year2024
Volume23
Issue2
Pages332-359
Publication date2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMeridians (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1536-6936 • E-ISSN: 1547-8424
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/15366936-11266412
OpenAlexW4403970518
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

In this article the authors perform a transnational feminist analysis of marketing strategies deployed in compassionate consumption. This strategy communicates to the consumer that consuming equals doing good. Using public-facing website data, the authors conduct a discourse analysis of alt-profit corporations, a term they coined to demonstrate yet another widespread strategy of late capitalism. Applying a transnational feminist perspective, they postulate that these alt-profits (meant to invoke "alternative" and "altruistic" actions by corporations) McDonaldize their marketing strategies to capitalize on consumer interests for sustainability, fair trade, "women's empowerment," and a desire to consume artisanal goods. They further argue that artisans from the Global South serving consumers in the Global North are framed as gendered and globalized in a way that helps sales. This is done purposefully using text and graphics, including digital storytelling, buzzwords, and vibrant photography. Contrary to the Marxist framework of alienation, artisans are presented as workers who find joy in their work. Alt-profits invite consumers to buy products and appreciate the unique experience of "meeting the artists." The authors conclude that the formulaic pattern of communication used by alt-profits is both distinct to them yet also common in publicizing any compassionate consumption and ultimately negates the reality of current global markets necessitating exploitative capitalist structures such as opaque and unsustainable supply chains

Aesthetics · Art · Business · Visual arts · Art History and Market Analysis · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Fashion and Cultural Textiles

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