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Disarming the Toy Store and Reloading the Shopping Cart: Resistance to Violent Consumer Culture
Author(s) -
Goossen Rachel Waltner
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/pech.12025
Subject(s) - entertainment , liberian dollar , commodification , advertising , resistance (ecology) , appeal , football team , political science , opposition (politics) , political economy , public relations , football , sociology , economy , law , business , politics , economics , ecology , finance , biology
This article examines the trajectory of North American‐based peace groups that mobilized to critique a set of nationalistic symbols, including military and war‐related toys and games and their commodification for children. Beginning in the immediate post–World War I period and continuing through the twentieth century, a constellation of peace organizations developed advocacy campaigns aimed at changing consumers’ behavior. Activists tailored their efforts to fit their shorter and long‐term goals, access to resources, and immediate historical contexts. Over time, peace groups’ protests against violent toys and games gained some traction, although the multibillion dollar toy and game industries in the United States continued to market violent entertainment geared toward children. By the turn of the twenty‐first century, antiviolence activists were effectively broadening their appeal to North American consumers by linking their concerns to public health campaigns focused on children's safety.