Representing Africa through the commodity
Representing Africa through the commodity
This chapter focuses on the role of consumption in Africa campaigning. The premise of the chapter is that British nationalism has always been constructed through norms of consumption: what to eat, what to buy, and what makes a ‘healthy’ nation. One can see this mostr prominently in the connections between consumption and imperial grandeur – encapsulated in the term ‘commodity racism’. Consumer politics has also been reflected in campaign politics. The chapter explores the politics of sugar boycotts as a key example of campaign action and an appeal to British consumer preferences, encapsulated in the imagery of ‘blood sugar’. The chapter finishes with an analysis of the ways in which contemporary Africa campaigning has increasingly relied on the techniques of marketing and branding to ‘sell’ a campaign. This has profound effects on the way Africa is represented which the chapter details by reviewing the websites and advertising of major campaign organisations.
Keywords: Consumerism, Boycott, Consumer republic, Sugar, Advertising, Branding, Commodity nationalism, Commodity racism, Website design, Advertising, Celebrity
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