Consuming Crisis is a crucial account of how consumer culture capitalized on Coronavirus (COVID-19). Sobande explores how brands claim to care while they encourage people to 'keep calm and consume'. This critical analysis of the power and politics of marketing examines an eclectic mix of campaigns, content, and experiences. Such work outlines the societal significance of fast-fashion adverts, banana bread's pandemic 'moment', university social media strategies, and how digital technology mediates memories and work. Based on the belief that brands cannot be activists, Sobande creatively considers how brands construct care, camaraderie, culture, and so-called 'normal' life during times of crisis. Francesca Sobande is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Studies at Cardiff University
"Francesca Sobande writes about the relationship between comfort, consumer culture and capitalism from a perspective that is both profoundly sharp and insightful, using critical analysis and personal provocations to deftly underline inequalities that have existed long before the pandemic. Consuming Crisis is an important contribution to the studies of care, activism and COVID-19."
Arusa Qureshi
"Consuming Crisis unpacks the jargon of the pandemic; and shows how notions of care colour all aspects of our lives. Written with evocative prose that treats concepts like "self-care" with intellectual curiosity rather than scorn, Sobande offers not just a searing synthesis of the last two years, but an alternative guide to help us respond to the crises to come."
Lanre Bakare
"Experimental, rigorous and an exceptional commentary on the multitude of inequities COVID-19 presented for the most marginalised.
This book is a moving example of Black feminist scholarship's capacity to demonstrate how employing neutralising tactics during crisis is a political choice by those in power. Sobande′s writing is the near perfect example of interdisciplinary Black scholarship whic
