Consumer movements, brand activism, and the participatory politics of media

A conversation

Bibliographic Data

ID7501340
AuthorsRobert V Kozinets (0000-0003-1724-8259, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA, corresponding author), H Jenkins (0000-0003-2221-9583, University of Southern California)
Year2021
Volume22
Issue1
Pages264-282
Publication date2021-05-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Consumer Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1469-5405 • E-ISSN: 1741-2900
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14695405211013993
OpenAlexW3162242549
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited16

This is a scripted adaptation of a conversational podcast interview between Henry Jenkins and Robert Kozinets about contemporary consumer activism and its relationship to media studies. After the interview, the conversants agreed to develop the transcript of the conversation in order to be more relevant to a scholarly audience who are interested in how Jenkins’ ideas apply to the understanding and investigation of consumer culture today. The conversation frames and synthesizes a range of thinking around activism, fan studies, brand management, and consumer culture theory. Couched in the American context but containing themes that may also relate to global culture in the current moment, it covers the theoretical as well as the pragmatic concerns of many of the stakeholders in the world of contemporary consumer activism, from the activists themselves to the brand managers who respond to their actions to the creators who write the stories that inspire them both. Topics include the relevance of participatory culture today, anti-racism and the role of media, consumer conflicts with brands and the corporations who police them, the importance of civic imagination to civic engagement, differences between brand managers and story creators, consumer activism in the workplace, activist and participatory approaches to civic research, the nature of contemporary consumer activist movements, the impact of intersectionality, and the prefigurative possibilities for change today

Citizen journalism · Context (archaeology · Conversation · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social movement · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Radio, Podcasts, and Digital Media