Woke capitalism

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Woke capitalism is a term coined by columnist Ross Douthat in use for an article for The New York Times.[1] The term is used by many large corporations in their public policy decisions.[1] It has been used[by whom?] with cancel culture but has been said[by whom?] to maintain existing power structures.[2] Although it has been said[by whom?] to have benefits for the public good, it has also been stated[by whom?] to be nothing to celebrate.[3] It is believed[by whom?] to do little to actually further progressive causes.[4]

By the mid-2010s, language associated with "wokeness" had entered the mainstream media and was being used for marketing.[5] The term woke capitalism came to be used for brands that used inexpensive messaging as a substitute for genuine reform.[6] According to The Economist, examples of "woke capitalism" include advertising campaigns designed to appeal to millennials, who often hold more socially liberal views than earlier generations.[7] These campaigns were often perceived by customers as insincere and inauthentic and provoked backlashes.[8]

In 2020, cultural scientists Akane Kanai and Rosalind Gill described "woke capitalism" as the "dramatically intensifying" trend to include historically marginalized groups (currently primarily in terms of race, gender and religion) as mascots in advertisement with a message of empowerment to signal progressive values. On the one hand, this creates an individualized and depoliticized idea of social justice, reducing it to an increase in self-confidence. On the other hand, the omnipresent visibility in advertising can also amplify a backlash against the equality of precisely these minorities. These would become mascots not only of the companies using them, but of the unchallenged neoliberal economic system with its socially unjust order itself. For the economically weak, the equality of these minorities would thus become indispensable to the maintenance of this economic system; the minorities would be seen responsible for the losses of this system.[9]

The term woke-washing has been used by Alan Jope, the chief executive of Unilever, who warned that brands which failed to take action on their rhetoric could "further destroy trust in our industry".[10]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Douthat, Ross (February 28, 2018). "The Rise of Woke Capital". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Lewis, Helen (July 14, 2020). "How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture". The Atlantic.
  3. ^ Bruenig, Elizabeth (April 28, 2021). "Opinion | The Rise of 'Woke Capital' Is Nothing to Celebrate". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Abela, Andrew V. (November 26, 2020). "Opinion | Woke Capitalism in a Secular World". The Wall Street Journal.
  5. ^ Sobande, Francesca (2019). "Woke-washing: 'Intersectional' femvertising and branding 'woke' bravery" (PDF). European Journal of Marketing. 54 (11): 2723–2745. doi:10.1108/EJM-02-2019-0134. ISSN 0309-0566. S2CID 213469381. adverts span from 2015–2018, which reflects the point at which the language of 'woke(ness)' entered mainstream media and marketing spheres
  6. ^ Lewis, Helen (14 July 2020). "How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture". The Atlantic.
  7. ^ "Woke, not broke". Bartleby. The Economist. Vol. 430, no. 9127. 26 January 2019. p. 65. ISSN 0013-0613.
  8. ^ Mirzaei, Abas (September 8, 2019). "Where 'woke' came from and why marketers should think twice before jumping on the social activism bandwagon". The Conversation. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Kanai, A.; Gill, R. (2020-10-28). "Woke? Affect, neoliberalism, marginalised identities and consumer culture". New Formations: A Journal of Culture, Theory & Politics. 102 (102): 10–27. doi:10.3898/NewF:102.01.2020. ISSN 0950-2378. S2CID 234623282.
  10. ^ Davies, Rob. "Unilever boss says brands using 'woke-washing' destroy trust". The Guardian. Retrieved July 5, 2021.

See also[]

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