Finishing the business: Disentangled narratives of gendered success,diasporic citizenship and the ongoing quest for balance

Abstract

Neoliberal narratives of resilience and transformation frame the success of the relatively few women and even fewer immigrant women who succeed in American industry. This article extends the critique of neoliberal feminism with an analysis of how the bestselling memoir and public persona of Indra Nooyi, a globally visible South Asian immigrant woman, disrupt the racial exclusivity of the discourse on women and work while aligning with a post-feminist vision of success. Through a critical reading of Nooyi's self-making in her memoir and in interviews conducted globally and across platforms, this article argues that by equating her extraordinary success to strategic individual actions, familial support, traditional diasporic values, caste affiliations and national affirmation, Nooyi forecloses the possibility of structural critique and collective feminist politics. The elite gendered narrative of success overrides intersections and fortifies the economistic logics that underpin neoliberal discourses on race and gender.