Postfeminist Memory Cultures, Late Capitalism and the Organisation of Ghosts

Abstract

The current political moment of late capitalism is frequently evoked through the trope of feminist hauntings, ghosts and spectres as a way to diagnose a postfeminist landscape. Here elements of feminist rhetoric and goals—such as women’s empowerment—are brought to the fore; while feminism’s more disruptive and agitational elements are disavowed. This chapter interrogates the role of memory practices within postfeminist orders and brings a much-needed focus on feminist activism into view. Delivering a key intervention in postfeminist media analysis, ‘Postfeminist Memory Cultures, Late Capitalism and the Organisation of Ghosts’ provides a rationale for a new assemblage perspective. This perspective enables a more interrogative understanding of political imaginaries, as well as the acts of mnemonic labour, literacy and resilience that keep feminist memories and actions alive.