Intersectional political consumerism: Re-examining consumer strategies of The Woodlawn Organization and Jobs or Income Now during the Chicago Welfare Rights Era

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The study utilizes 18 archival primary source collections related to the Welfare Rights Movement, using both open and focused coding to perform content analysis of 3300 documents. By extending Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of the “flawed consumer” to incorporate intersectionality, this article offers an intersectional analysis of political consumerism, which reveals two dimensions of political consumerism: (1) community-based and (2) commercial-based. Findings reveal that while Black, male-dominated capitalist-promoting welfare organizations such as The Woodlawn Organization employed commercial-based intersectional political consumerism, predominantly White, female-led socialist organizations such as Jobs or Income Now preferred community-based intersectional political consumerism. This re-conceptualization of intersectional political consumerism within the Welfare Rights Movement better considers the role of intersectionality in the strategy decision-making of the movement organizations and as such provides a more thorough explanation of the political consumerist strategies of those participating in the Welfare Rights Movement.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)180-199
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Consumer Culture
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2021

Keywords

  • Chicago Welfare Rights
  • flawed consumers
  • Intersectionality
  • political consumerism
  • social movement organizations

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Social Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Marketing

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