Angela McRobbie - Feminism and the Politics of 'Resilience'

1 Title page Feminism and the Politics of Resilience Essays on Gender, Media and the End of Welfare Angela McRobbie polity

2 Copyright page

3 Acknowledgements

4 Introduction Notes

5 1 Feminism, the Family and the New Multi-Mediated MaternalismThe Maternal–Feminine Revolutionary Road? The Nursery as Socialist Ideal Good Housekeeping: The Biopolitics of the Family Visual-Media Governmentality, Maternity and ‘Neoliberal Feminism’ Notes

6 2 Feminism and the Politics of ResilienceThe Profit from Feminism? Competitive Femininity The Politics of Resilience Red and Resilience Critique of Resilience ‘The Violence of Regulatory Norms’ (Butler 1997) Conclusions Notes

7 3 Out of Welfare: Women and ‘Contraceptive Employment’ ‘Sleeping off a Life on Benefits’ 16 Feminism and New Public Management Gender and Anti-Welfarism Notes

8 4 ‘Breaking the Spell of the Welfare State’: Gender, Media and Poverty-Shaming Reality TV as Social Worker? Little Britain Abjection White Dee Black Women, ‘Welfare Queens’ and Anti-Welfare Media Some Brief Conclusions Notes

9 References

10 Index

11 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Contents

3 1 Feminism, the Family and the New Multi-Mediated Maternalism

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Angela McRobbie

polity

Copyright © Angela McRobbie 2020

The right of Angela McRobbie to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2020 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

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Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2506-5 (hardback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2507-2 (paperback)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McRobbie, Angela, author.

Title: Feminism and the politics of resilience : Essays on Gender, Media and the End of Welfare / Angela McRobbie.

Description: Medford : Polity, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A captivating analysis of neoliberal culture’s hold on womanhood from the leading voice in cultural studies”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019041734 (print) | LCCN 2019041735 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509525065 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509525072 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509525102 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Feminism. | Neoliberalism. | Popular culture--Political aspects.

Classification: LCC HQ1155 .M377 2020 (print) | LCC HQ1155 (ebook) | DDC 305.42--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019041734

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019041735

Typeset in 10.5 on 12pt Sabon

by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 8NL

Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

My thanks are due to the Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, for the Mercator Fellowship 2017, which allowed me to complete the work for this volume. I presented an early version of Chapter 3at Oldenburg University Selbstbildung Project and wish to thank the colleagues there, especially Thomas Alkemeyer, for their support. I presented Chapter 3in the Department of Sociology at Vienna University in 2017; thanks are therefore due to Elisabeth Holzleithner, Birgit Sauer and Eva Flicker for inviting me. At Goldsmiths I tried out that chapter at the Centre for Feminist Research 2017; especial thanks to Lisa Blackman for encouraging me to do this. Thanks to Sarah Banet-Weiser for inviting me to present Chapter 2at the London School of Economics in May 2019.

As ever, I am indebted to Goldsmiths, University of London, and my colleagues in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies for their enthusiasm and good cheer. I was also able to complete the manuscript thanks to a period of sabbatical leave in 2018. Thanks also to the team at Polity Press for their friendly professionalism and patience.

Chapter 1appeared in New Formations , 81 (2013). I am grateful to the publishers for permission to reprint in this current volume.

This short book of just four chapters seeks to develop a feminist account of some contemporary dividing practices associated with our current times of neoliberalism. 1Each of the essays examines, in different ways, how social polarization is enacted through popular culture 2and media, and how highly normative ideals of femininity play a role in promoting an increasingly fragmented and splintered society.