Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland and Dreams O Us
What does it mean to be Black in Scotland today? What is it like to dream of Black Scottish history? Based on intergenerational interviews, survey responses, photography, and archived material, Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland (Bloomsbury, 2022), co-authored with layla-roxanne hill, offers a unique snapshot of Black Scottish history and the here and now. Black Oot Here co-creations also include the freely available graphic novel, Black Oot Here: Dreams O Us (ESRC/AHRC funded, 2023), illustrated by Chris Manson and translated in Scots (by Lesley Benzie) and Scottish Gaelic (by Naomi Gessesse). An accompanying animation was co-created with Oran Rose O’Sullivan / Leeds Animation Workshop and features music by Nathan Somevi. The project website is: blackinscotland.com
Black Women’s Digital Lives in Britain
Francesca’s PhD thesis Digital Diaspora and (Re)mediating Black Women in Britain (2018) led to her book The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). Related articles of Francesca’s include “Watching me watching you: Black women in Britain on YouTube” (European Journal of Cultural Studies, 2017), “Resisting media marginalisation: Black women’s digital content and collectivity” (Consumption Markets & Culture, 2019), “Black media nostalgia in Britain” (Cultural Studies, 2023), and “The digital nesting of Black feminism” (European Journal of Women’s Studies, 2023).
Beyond “Brand Activism” and Morality in the Marketplace
Francesca critically analyses the relationship between media, marketing, social justice, and digital culture. Her work on “woke-washing” (European Journal of Marketing, 2019) was picked up by Yahoo! News, The Independent, Quartz, and MSN. Big Brands Are Watching You (University of California Press, 2024) expands on it to examine corporate culture and morality in the marketplace, from the branding of companies and nations to TV portrayals of big business and the workplace. Conceptualising “single-use social justice” and “disposable duties”, this book contends with brand responses to injustice.
Consuming Crisis: Commodifying Care and COVID-19
Consuming Crisis (SAGE, 2022) accounts for how consumer culture capitalised on Coronavirus, and how brands claim to care while telling us to “keep calm and consume”. This analysis of the power and politics of marketing examines an eclectic mix of campaigns, content, and experiences. It outlines the societal significance of fast-fashion adverts, banana bread's pandemic 'moment', university social media strategies, and how digital technology mediates memories and work. Based on the belief that brands cannot be activists, this book considers how they construct care, camaraderie, culture, and so-called ‘normal’ life. Chapter 2 is open access here.
How Cultural Workers Address Racism in the Digital Age
Francesca was principal investigator on this project with Dr Anamik Saha (Goldsmiths, University of London), Professor David Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds), and research assistant Jason Roberts (Cardiff University), supported by the Digit Innovation Fund (ESRC funded). The work was based on 30 interviews with workers in the creative and cultural industries (England, Scotland, Wales). It focused on how they address racism and seek paid work in sectors that shape public culture. Findings feature in “Black, Brown and Asian cultural workers, creativity and activism: The ambivalence of digital self-branding practices” (The Sociological Review, 2023).
The Meanings and Messages of Vlogs about University Life
Cardiff University’s Research Opportunities Placement (CUROP) scheme involved Jeevan Kaur and Francesca Sobande researching how and why universities and their students make use of vlogging. This was a critical digital discourse analysis of “university life” YouTube vlogs, including vlogs created by influencers independently of universities, and vlogs created for/in partnership with universities. The analysis aids understanding of considerations, opportunities, and challenges involved in students' and universities' use of vlogs.
Transdisciplinary Photovoice Project on Race and Markets
In collaboration with Dr Guillaume Johnson (Paris Dauphine University) and as part of her involvement in the Race in the Marketplace (RIM) Research Network, Francesca was co-principal investigator on an Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) funded project. It was based on a two-day "photovoice workshop" prior to the RIM Forum (2019), which focused on photographic and creative documentation of (anti-)racism and the racial history of Paris. Publications include the ISRF Bulletin Issue XXIII: Race and Markets and “Enacting anti-racist visualities through photo-dialogues on race in Paris”.