The hypervisibility and discourses of 'wokeness' in digital culture

Sobande, Francesca ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4788-4099, Kanai, Akane and Zeng, Natasha 2022. The hypervisibility and discourses of 'wokeness' in digital culture. Media, Culture and Society 44 (8) , pp. 1576-1587. 10.1177/01634437221117490

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Abstract

From its origins in Black grassroots activist and political consciousness raising spaces, the term ‘woke’ has shifted in its significance. Now broadly synonymous with statements on social media that are assumed to indicate an investment in tackling social injustices, specifically, antiblackness and racial injustice, it has also become the subject of heated critique. Using key case studies such as the ‘I take responsibility’ and Instagram ‘blackout’ campaigns of 2020, this commentary clarifies how the cultural conventions and affordances of both social media and celebrity have shaped conceptualizations of ‘wokeness’. In its marketization, we suggest that ‘wokeness’ goes beyond the associations of progressive politics that advertisers attempt to attach to brands. Rather, we suggest that ‘wokeness’ is also conceptualized in terms of the quality of individual practices connected with antiracism and left politics more broadly. Observing that desires for ‘wokeness’ underpin its visibility and contestation, we explore the affective entanglements of ‘wokeness’ with whiteness, neoliberal identity culture, genres of social media content, and perceived expressions of sincerity. In doing so, we theorize the digital development, hyper-visibility, and marketization of ‘wokeness’, to grapple with how internet, consumer, and celebrity culture is implicated in contemporary understandings and expectations of social justice work.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0163-4437
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 June 2022
Date of Acceptance:	27 June 2022
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 17:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/150810

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