Making martial politics palatable: constructing neoliberal feminist subjects in arms manufacturers’ social media feeds

Jester, Natalie ORCID: 0000-0002-7995-3028 (2023) Making martial politics palatable: constructing neoliberal feminist subjects in arms manufacturers’ social media feeds. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 25 (2). pp. 310-333. doi:10.1080/14616742.2023.2174154

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Abstract

In this article, I examine social media output from three of the largest arms manufacturers (by profit): Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, all based in the United States. I ask: how, if at all, are women represented? What do these representations “do”? To do this, I examine all tweets over a three-month period and find that the Twitter content: normalises women within the company context, presents the companies as empowering and inspiring, and as places for individual women to succeed. Central to all three areas is intersectionality, with the companies depicting women of colour frequently, especially Black women. I argue that the social media output of arms manufacturers helps “make possible” the arms trade by presenting these companies as neoliberal, multicultural feminist beacons of social progress, rendering ambivalent criticisms about the suffering inflicted by their products.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Martial politics; Arms trade; Neoliberal feminism; Social media; Visual analysis
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JZ International relations
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Research Priority Areas:	Society and Learning
Depositing User:	Nat Jester
Date Deposited:	17 Nov 2022 15:56
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2023 12:22
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/11866

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