Cultures of capitalism: introduction

ABSTRACT

This special issue compiles a selection of articles developed from work presented at the 2017 Cultural Studies Association of Australasia conference, held in Aotearoa, New Zealand, with the theme “Cultures of Capitalism.” This editorial outlines the key questions that were posed by the conference’s Call for Papers—namely, what is the relationship between culture and capital and the contemporary role of Cultural Studies as a means of anti-capitalist critique? A variety of studies seeking to engage with such questions are included here, with subject matter ranging from Apple’s circular economy logic in relation to e-waste; the implications of Indian company Patanjali Ayurved’s deployment of the Swadeshi ideal; as well as considerations of how Brisbane Free University and Queering Health Hobart’s pedagogical models may challenge the commdoficiation of health and education. Of significance in this issue is the impact of colonialism and capitalist modes of organization on Aotearoa’s indigenous Māori population. We are pleased to present work from presenters on the Indigeneity and Capitalism panel, who spoke of Indigenous forms of knowledge as providing alternatives to capitalism and the ills it has produced.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Te Atiawa as tangata whenua of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the lands now colonised as Wellington in New Zealand, where this conference and the ideas drawn from it for this special issue took place. We also extend our sincere thanks to the conference committee Nick Holm, Pansy Duncan, and Kevin Veale for their blood, sweat, and tears in helping to co-create the conference with us. Finally, many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their generosity and time.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kendra Marston

Kendra Marston is an independent scholar based in Wellington, New Zealand, with research interests in the areas of film studies, post-feminism, critical race and whiteness studies, fashion theory, celebrity, and academic labour. She is the author of Postfeminist Whiteness: Problematising Melancholic Burden in Contemporary Hollywood (Edinburgh University Press, 2018) and has published articles in Film, Fashion & Consumption, Celebrity Studies and Cinema Journal among other venues.

Amie Taua is a Masters candidate at the University of Otago in the Media, Film and Communications Department, whose thesis centres around the spectatorship of the bicultural audience in a New Zealand context. Amie has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in media and film studies and English, and a first class Honours degree. Amie’s research areas of interest include audience studies, cultural studies, national cinema, indigenous cinema, minority and gender representation.