Intersectional political consumerism: Re-examining consumer strategies of The Woodlawn Organization and Jobs or Income Now during the Chicago Welfare Rights Era

Abstract

The study utilizes 18 archival primary source collections related to the Welfare Rights Movement, using both open and focused coding to perform content analysis of 3300 documents. By extending Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of the “flawed consumer” to incorporate intersectionality, this article offers an intersectional analysis of political consumerism, which reveals two dimensions of political consumerism: (1) community-based and (2) commercial-based. Findings reveal that while Black, male-dominated capitalist-promoting welfare organizations such as The Woodlawn Organization employed commercial-based intersectional political consumerism, predominantly White, female-led socialist organizations such as Jobs or Income Now preferred community-based intersectional political consumerism. This re-conceptualization of intersectional political consumerism within the Welfare Rights Movement better considers the role of intersectionality in the strategy decision-making of the movement organizations and as such provides a more thorough explanation of the political consumerist strategies of those participating in the Welfare Rights Movement.