The Kardashians

Citizens of Surplus

Bibliographic Data

ID4525516
AuthorsM D R Jones (Brunel University of London, corresponding author), Meredith Jones (0000-0003-3684-4689, Brunel University of London)
Year2024
Volume28
Issue1
Pages100-117
Publication date2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13621025.2024.2348870
OpenAlexW4399184957
LanguageEN
References cited48

This article engages with the manufacture/purchase of feminine beauty, especially via cosmetic surgery, U.S. citizenship, and prosperity Christianity. It aligns the Kardashians’ form of capitalist beauty with their Christian rhetoric in context of their uptake of ‘surplus citizenship’. I argue that prosperity Christianity together with certain aesthetic body modifications reveal a contemporary version of U.S. citizenship that speaks of entrepreneurial self-enhancement, national belonging, and affluence. I show that this ‘new’ type of citizenship is rooted in deeply racialised practices and processes. A case study – the rise and fall of the so-called ‘Brazilian butt lift’ (BBL) – is offered in order to demonstrate these ideas

Citizenship · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Post-Communist Economic and Political Transition · Soviet and Russian History · Turkey's Politics and Society

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