This article focuses on the possibilities and limitations of reflexivity in contemporary anti-consumerism activist discourse. Opening by noting that much contemporary anti-consumerist discourse has a fraught relationship with what was once termed ‘identity politics’, in that it often attempts to reject or negotiate with an idea of identity politics that is figured as existing in the recent past, the article suggests that one way of both understanding this preoccupation, and of broadening out the terms of discussion, is to consider the various ways in which these discourses can be understood as reflexive. The paper therefore attempts to identify how various anti-consumerist actions and texts, including Naomi Klein's bestseller No Logo, Anita Roddick's manual Take it Personally, the work of ‘culture jammers’ Adbusters, and Reverend Billy's ‘Church of Stop Shopping’ position themselves reflexively in relation to social and cultural change. Its discourse analysis considers what these projects understand as ‘a...

Beyond the boycott: anti-consumerism, cultural change and the limits of reflexivity

Since 2002, the`chav' has become a ubiquitous symbol of class difference in Britain. Simultaneously, a heterogeneous industry has appropriated `chav culture' in order to market a range of products and services orientated to gay men. In this article I explore some of the representations employed by this industry to argue that they function within a symbolic economy in which the chav is positioned as a subject lacking any intrinsic worth. However, while representations continually impute a lack of value to such subjects, it is precisely this lack which is converted into symbolic capital to be bought and sold.The effect of such representation is performative since it both constructs and inscribes subject positions in social space. In conclusion, I argue that a form of symbolic violence is created by such representation through the legitimacy it lends to normative conceptions about, what become imagined as,`real' people.

`Rude Boys': The Homosexual Eroticization of Class

This article considers the theme of the Channel 4 show 'Playing It Straight' (2005), a variation on the 'dating show' genre in which a female contestant must select the man of her dreams from 10 suitors. However, the twist in the show's format is that not all of the men are heterosexually identified. The article contends that the show's narrative is not homophobic but effeminophobic. Second, the article analyses how the show positions all the male contestants, both gay and straight, within the matrix of New Lad style homosocial bonding. Finally, the article considers how the show mobilises one of the dominant cultural themes in contemporary popular culture: the 'safe eroticism' or 'queer' friendship that can develop between a straight woman and a gay identified man.

Effeminophobia, Misogyny and Queer Friendship: The Cultural Themes of Channel 4's Playing It Straight:

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 introduced the new offence of ‘Possession of extreme pornographic images’ (section 63) into English law. One aspect of the framework that section 63 uses to determine which images will fall within its scope is explicitly concerned with questions of morality: images must be deemed ‘grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character’. This article examines some of the justifications for, objections to, and implications of the inclusion of the moral component of section 63 and situates these arguments within long-standing debates about the relationship between law, sexuality and morality. Returning to the influential but much critiqued work of Patrick Devlin, it argues that the framework that section 63 offers for the moral evaluation of extreme images is an imperfect but appropriate method for determining the level of social toleration for the private possession of violent pornographic imagery. After considering some of the arguments made against the moral framework, and in favour of a harm-based approach, it concludes by arguing that the morality component offers both a practical way of evaluating images in relation to contemporary standards of obscenity and provides a protective mechanism for limiting the scope of the law’s application.

Law, Morality and Disgust: The Regulation of "Extreme Pornography" in England and Wales

Despite camp's seemingly exclusive affiliation with gay men and misogynist tendencies, camp offers feminists a model for critiques of gender and sex roles. Camp has an affinity with feminist discus...

As Kamp as Bree: the politics of camp reconsidered by 'Desperate Housewives'

March. Hardt, Michael, and Antonio Negri. 2001. What the protesters in Genoa want. New York Times, 20 July, A21. Ikenberry, G. John. 2000. Review of Empire, by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt. Foreign Affairs, July/August, 148. James, William. 1882. On some hegalisms. Mind 7:186-208. Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. 1947.TheGerman ideology: Part one. Edited byC. J. Arthur. New York: International. Ninkovich, Frank. 2000. Review ofEmpire, by Antonio Negri andMichael Hardt.Political Science Quarterly, fall, 488. Schiller, Herbert I. 1981.Who knows: Information in the age of the Fortune 500. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. . 1996. Information inequality: The deepening social crisis in America. New York: Routledge.

Jennifer Harrison

Papers

Sex, Literature and Censorship