Co-Optation or Rearticulation? An Agonistic Approach to Popular Feminism

This paper considers the uneasy relationship between the neoliberal world and the popularisation of feminism. As argued by Nancy Fraser, not only has global capitalism hindered decision-making but it has also weakened progressive movements by co-opting their cause. The paper broadens these debates by studying popular feminism through political theory, namely Chantal Mouffe’s and Ernesto Laclau’s thinking on agonistic democracy. By doing so, it takes distance from perspectives that focus chiefly on neoliberal governmentality – a common frame especially within media and cultural studies – and shows how mutations of contemporary feminisms should not be seen simply as paradigmatic of neoliberalism’s destructive force. The empirical setting takes place in Finland and concerns both explicitly and implicitly feminist actors whom my colleagues and I have interviewed. The particular focus is on actors who are close to – or perhaps at the heart of – the neoliberal realm: entrepreneurs, businesses, influencers, as well as artists. I close read this interview material and supplement it with ethnographic analysis of online material which includes social media content, websites and podcasts. The key interest then revolves around whether feminists can affect social change through their agonistic engagement with capitalist sites, at a time when, as maintained by Fraser, the formal political realm and public powers are in a state of paralysis. By replacing some of the paranoia with more reparative reading styles, I demonstrate how feminist actors and acts can challenge the privileged position of arenas commonly regarded as legitimate spaces for progressive transformation. I also show how feminist experiences can be articulated in many ways and through various emotional registers. The paper calls for reflection on how feminist alliances could be established across different fields in an increasingly neoliberal society, in their attempts to resist oppression and rearticulate systemic capitalist formations.