LOOK, DON’T TOUCH: REFLECTIONS ON THE FREEDOM TO FEEL
What does the command “look, don’t touch” suggest about the (lack of) freedom to feel in society?
layla-roxanne hill and Francesca Sobande reflect on society’s nurturing and obstructing of emotional expression, physical touch, and connectedness between different species and spaces. Through the music of feeling across genres from nu-metal to hip-hop, the spectacle of “self-help” social media content, and powerful pop culture portrayals of (im)mortality and “monsters”, Look, Don’t Touch (404 Ink) moves beyond the language of “being okay”. It embraces tenderness, dreaming, love, solidarity, messiness, release, and ultimately, feeling.
BLACK LIFE IN / AND “ALT” MUSIC / SUBCULTURES
In collaboration with the Museum of Youth Culture, this project explored elements of the cultural memory and archived experiences of Black people in “alternative” (“alt”) music/subcultures. It looked at aspects of the recent history, naming, and public perception of specific (sub-)genres.
The research particularly focused on the past and present representations and recollections of Black people in/on emo, hardcore, nu-metal, post-hardcore, and screamo. It also addressed different ideas related to what archives are and can be. Additionally, the project considered the politics of popular concepts of “cringe” and “cool” that relate to music and social media. The work involved creating a freely available book which features a series of articles that are based on the project.
big brands are watching you: marketing social justice and digital culture
How is morality understood in the marketplace? Why do brands speak out about certain issues of injustice and not others? And what is influencer culture’s role in social and political activism?
Big Brands Are Watching You (University of California Press) investigates corporate culture, from the branding of companies and nations to television portrayals of big business and the workplace (Industry, Partner Track, Severance, Succession, The Bold Type, You). Francesca Sobande analyses media, interviews, survey responses, and ephemera from the history of advertising as well as exhibitions in London, brand stores in Amsterdam, a music festival in Las Vegas, and archives in Washington, DC, to illuminate the world of branding.
To read and download the freely available Chapter 1 – Setting the Scene: Social Justice for Sale, click here. The discount code for 30% off the book from University of California Press (US) or Wiley (UK/) is: UCPSAVE30
Events related to the book have included the Inaugural Talk for “The Race in the Marketplace (RIM) Global Dialogue Series Across Race and Markets”, which involved a conversation between Francesca and Professor Sonya A. Grier (American University) on 26 March, 2024, in addition to a conversation between Francesca and Professor Anthony Kwame Harrison (Virginia Tech) on 1 April, 2024.
THE ANTI-RACIST MEDIA MANIFESTO
How can we make media anti-racist?
The rise of the far right, the impacts of Covid-19, and the mediated evidence of racist police violence have challenged the dominant complacency that racism was a thing of the past. We are now witnessing the renewed anti-racist commitment of social movements and the rising authoritarianism that seeks to suppress it. Rather than making media ‘less racist’, how can media systems be transformed in ways that actively challenge the production of racism? What should an anti-racist media look like? In The Anti-Racist Media Manifesto Saha, Sobande and Titley address these timely questions to outline the essential steps for working towards an anti-racist media future. Revealing how the media are implicated in racism, the authors consider how systems, policies and practices can be transformed to confront and prevent it.
CONSUMING CRISIS: COMMODIFYING CARE AND COVID-19
Consuming Crisis is a crucial account of how consumer culture capitalised on Coronavirus (Covid-19). Sobande explores how brands claim to care while they encourage people to ‘keep calm and consume’. This critical analysis of the power and politics of marketing examines an eclectic mix of campaigns, content, and experiences. Such work 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. Overall, Sobande considers how brands construct care, camaraderie, culture, and so-called ‘normal’ life during times of crisis.
Open access chapter: Beyond the Pretense of ‘Brand Activism’
BLACK OOT HERE: BLACK LIVES IN SCOTLAND
What does it mean to be Black in Scotland today? How are notions of nationhood, Scottishness, and Britishness implicated in this? Why is it important to archive and understand Black Scottish history? Reflecting on the past to make sense of the present, Francesca Sobande and layla-roxanne hill explore the history and contemporary lives of Black people in Scotland. Based on intergenerational interviews, survey responses, photography, and analysis of media and archived material, this book offers a unique snapshot of Black Scottish history and recent twenty-first century realities. Focusing on a wide range of experiences of education, work, activism, media, creativity, public life, and politics, Black Oot Here (Bloomsbury, 2022) presents a vital account of Black lives in Scotland, while carefully considering the future that may lie ahead. For 30% off it, at Bloomsbury’s checkout use the code: BOHFSLRH22
THE DIGITAL LIVES OF BLACK WOMEN IN BRITAIN
Based on interviews and archival research, this book explores how media is implicated in Black women’s lives in Britain. From accounts of twentieth-century activism and television representations, to experiences of YouTube and Twitter, Sobande’s analysis traverses tensions between digital culture’s communal, counter-cultural and commercial qualities. The book was published in August 2020 and is a Cultural & Media Studies Bestseller by Palgrave Macmillan.
Two open access chapters: