<p>  </p> <p>This dissertation is a series of articles that put Hannah Arendt’s political thought in conversation with current social and political phenomena, namely the refugee crisis, political action under the circumstances of oppression, and the neoliberal turn in feminism.</p> <p>My first chapter joins the contemporary Arendt scholarship that parallels her account of the refugee condition and the current global refugee situation. I first analyze the image of human rights and plurality in <em>The Origins of Totalitarianism</em> and discuss the cosmopolitan response to the issues raised by Arendt. I then argue that <em>The Human Condition </em>offers an opening for a new understanding of Arendtian action that is not tied to traditional citizenship and will thus be more accommodating of refugees.</p> <p>My second chapter explores the possibility of Arendtian political action under oppression. I offer an analysis of Arendt’s separation of society versus politics and point out the limitation that this distinction places on what forms of action count as properly political. I then argue that in order to overcome this restriction, Arendt needs to recognize that 1) for marginalized groups, navigating both the social and political obstacles involves sacrifices that constitute political action, and 2) our discriminated against identity can become an instrument of political action.</p> <p>My third chapter offers an Arendtian analysis of neoliberal feminism. I begin by identifying three main ways neoliberal feminism strips the feminist movement of its collective, egalitarian, and emancipatory character. I then introduce Arendt’s account of modern capitalist labor, exclusive and inclusive solidarity, and individual self-transformation in the face of systemic obstacles. I use these Arendtian concepts to point out flaws in neoliberal feminism and offer an alternative that promotes the liberatory goals of the feminist movement. </p>

In the last few years, there has been an explosion of Facebook groups specifically directed at a female audience. One topic that seems to organize and interest Swedish women especially is money. This study explores the biggest Swedish financial group of them all: Economista – women who enjoy stocks and private economy, currently hosting 146 thousand members.  The group is studied through a theoretical lens of fourth wave feminism, characterized by the use of digital tools for feminist action, as well as a revival of the feminist collective action from the second wave feminism, and a continuation of a feminist individual empowerment of third wave feminism. The study aims to investigate how feminism, and the empowerment of women is negotiated within the group. It also investigates what defines and delimits the female discursive object of the Economista. Methods used are a critical feminist discourse analysis and an explorative netnography, combined with focus group discussions with members of the group. The study shows that Economista can be seen as a collective space as members experience the group as a safe space where they educate each other about the stock market – a field historically dominated by men, that many are reluctant to enter. It also functions as a space for consciousness raising about patriarchal structures playing out in their everyday economic lives. However, the group can also be viewed as a limited emancipation, as it only includes a limited scope of individuals. The economically liberated subject that comes forth – The Economista – is a neoliberal, feminine version of a Homo economicus, who is responsible for making deliberate, rational decisions regarding her economy. In this postfeminist discourse, feminist analysis is no longer needed, as women have all the possibilities in the world to live a rich and happy life – if they just put their minds into it. The study shows that it is precisely these instances of “empowerment” that are important to dissect, as these often conceal limiting structures. In this case, the implications that this notion of freedom and “lack of governance” has for feminist struggle is that it masks norms, hierarchies and structural power relations producing economic inequality. Economista thus becomes part of the problem that it sets out to solve, as the group pictures itself as a solution to women’s economic inequality, at the expense of other solutions.

The aim of this essay is to find out in what ways the global clothing company H&amp;M uses political and ideological statements, such as feminism, as a sales strategy. I have noticed an expanding trend in fashion; the use of feminism as branding, and how companies such as H&amp;M have started profiling themselves with feminism. This could be seen as a typical neoliberal-femvertising phenomenon. In this essay, I use critique of ideology, a method developed by the Frankfurt school, to examine how H&amp;M expresses feminism through their clothes, whether H&amp;M’s production could be considered as a feminist one, and what consequences H&amp;M’s use of feminist ideology have on the feminist political movement. To be able to answer these questions, I use gender theory and postcolonial theory. My aim is to show how neoliberal/capitalist ideologies often contain cultural and political appropriation, where an ideology such as feminism is exploited in order to make a higher profit. My conclusion is that when companies use feminist statements in their clothing they use irony and humour to emphasize positivity, such as “girl power”, instead of confronting structural inequalities among the sexes and harmful norms and gender stereotypes within this hierarchy. The consequence of this process is that feminism is depoliticized, which is harmful to the feminist political agenda.

The aim of this essay is to find out in what ways the global clothing company H&amp;M uses political and ideological statements, such as feminism, as a sales strategy. I have noticed an expanding trend in fashion; the use of feminism as branding, and how companies such as H&amp;M have started profiling themselves with feminism. This could be seen as a typical neoliberal-femvertising phenomenon. In this essay, I use critique of ideology, a method developed by the Frankfurt school, to examine how H&amp;M expresses feminism through their clothes, whether H&amp;M’s production could be considered as a feminist one, and what consequences H&amp;M’s use of feminist ideology have on the feminist political movement. To be able to answer these questions, I use gender theory and postcolonial theory. My aim is to show how neoliberal/capitalist ideologies often contain cultural and political appropriation, where an ideology such as feminism is exploited in order to make a higher profit. My conclusion is that when companies use feminist statements in their clothing they use irony and humour to emphasize positivity, such as “girl power”, instead of confronting structural inequalities among the sexes and harmful norms and gender stereotypes within this hierarchy. The consequence of this process is that feminism is depoliticized, which is harmful to the feminist political agenda.