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Item Open Access From Occupy Wall Street to Occupying the Academy: Three Interventions from One Demonstration(2015-01-26) Earley, Amanda Jenny Layne; Belk, Russell W.This primary purpose of this project was to further understand and theorize the meaning of Occupy Wall Street. Beyond that, the goal was to advance extant theorizations of the nature of economic justice movements more broadly. In order to achieve these goals, the theoretical lens of political philosophy is adopted. The dissertation starts with a brief introduction, which explains the rationale behind this choice, and begins the work of contextualizing the movement. The next chapter is a conceptual piece, which explains the utility of political philosophy in greater depth. Here, the discussion is framed in terms of the consumer culture theory literature, but the framework offered has relevance far beyond this discipline. Here, Badiou’s work on the event and subjectivity are employed, and it is argued that this provides an excellent theorization of how consumer culture operates—as well as resistance to consumer culture. The third chapter starts with a review of past discussions of consumer activism, and explains how the current framework can productively advance knowledge in the field. A Badiouian critical discourse analysis provides a great deal of insight into how individuals become committed to activist movements; how it changes their ethics; how it influences their choice of strategies; and how activism could lead to sustained social change. The final chapter critically interrogates the idea that marketing tactics should be used by social movements. Occupy Wall Street provides an ideal context for testing the limits of this argument, as it is simultaneously anti-marketing, as well as a movement where some protestors adhere to this idea that movements should be marketed. This chapter raises serious questions about the applicability of marketing techniques not only in this context, but also in many non-profit, social, governmental, and even for-profit contexts. In the end, it is my hope that this project provides a better understanding of politics and social movements not only for academics, but also for activists. The study presents important findings about the nature of consumer culture, and consequently the nature of strategies that are necessary for those who contest it.Item Open Access The Activist Tale of Emergent Crowds & Mobilized Communities: Investigating the Interplay Between Consumer Activism & Consumer Collectives(2017-07-27) Schneider, Leah Anne; Fischer, Eileen; Kozinets, RobertConsumers are collaboratively and collectively engaging in activist performances in the marketplace to challenge market(er) hegemony and power. Facilitated and enabled by online technologies, consumer collectives are waging battles both behind and outside of the screen, but is the performance of activism from a collective perspective influenced by the nature of the collective itself? This dissertation explores the intersection and interplay between consumer activism and collectives by addressing the questions of how the nature of a primarily online consumer collective influences its performance of activism, and conversely, how the performance of activism influences the evolution of pre-existing collectives. Analyzing five activist campaign sites using a netnographic method, this dissertation proposes that two types of collectives, the Emergent Crowd and the Mobilized Community, differ significantly in terms of their identity work and leadership organization and structure. These differences impact the campaigning behaviors exhibited; knowledge, resources, and platforms used; and tactical choices developed and enacted that constitute the activist performances. Furthermore, Mobilized Communities are shown to experience relationship transformations within and external to the collective that impact both individual behavior and the collectives evolutionary trajectory. In particular, alliance formation efforts, particularly enabled by social media platforms, are examined and discussed, ranging from non-responders to collaborative partners. Conclusions for practical and research applications regarding the distinct performances of activism in light of the collective a company or cause encounters, including suggestions for managing and taking advantage of value-creating opportunities, are suggested and discussed.