Awkward Politics: Technologies of Popfeminist Activism

by Carrie Smith-Prei

Overview

The increased use of digital tools for political activism has triggered heated debates about the effectiveness of digital campaigns for political change and feminist causes. While technology’s immediacy and transnational reach have broadened the potential impact of activism, it has, at the same time, complicated the goals, materiality, and consumption of feminist actions. In Awkward Politics, Carrie Smith-Prei and Maria Stehle suggest that awkwardness offers a means of engaging with twenty-first century feminist activism by accounting for the uncertainty of popfeminist moments and movements, its sometimes illegible meanings, affects, and aesthetics. By investigating transnational media ranging from popfeminist performance art, music, street activism, blogs, and hashtags to literature, film, academic theory, and protests, the authors demonstrate that viewing activist art through the lens of awkwardness can yield a nuanced critique. By developing awkwardness into a theoretical tool for intervention, a key concept of feminist politics, and a moving target, this innovative study dramatically alters the ways in which we approach activism, its forms, movements, and effects. It also suggests a broad range of applicability, from social movements to the academy. Breaking new ground through the intersections of technology, consumerism, and the political in popfeminist work, Awkward Politics highlights the urgency of feminist politics and activism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773598973
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Carrie Smith-Prei is associate professor of German studies at the University of Alberta.

Maria Stehle is associate professor of German and a faculty member in cinema studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Table of Contents

Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Awkward Activism in the Digital Age 3

1 Process as a Politics: Collaborative Research, Political Urgency, and Feminist Histories 19

2 Feminist Activisms and Local Contexts: Forms and Trajectories 45

3 Awkwardness as Popfeminist Craft: Staying with the Trouble 79

4 Movements, Circulations, Technologies: Awkwardness on the Move 109

5 The Affects of Adolescent Aesthetics: Popfeminism in Film and Literature 138

6 On the Contemporary: Materiality and Virality of Feminism from Mainstream to the Academy 175

Conclusion: Towards an Awkward Ethos: Conviviality, Joy, and Feminist Ethics 203

Notes 209

References 225

Index 247

Editorial Reviews

By using the concept of ‘awkwardness’ to dramatically shift how we talk about activism, Awkward Politics brings a new perspective to the field of feminist theory.” - Margaret R. McCarthy, Davidson College


“[The] premise that awkwardness can be a theoretical tool for reading feminist activism is a welcome new perspective … Perhaps the most significant contribution this book makes to an ongoing conversation about digital activism and feminist engagement is i

From the Publisher