Corporate social advocacy and racial justice : a critical analysis of Dove's CROWN Act campaign

This thesis explores how Dove's CROWN Act campaign utilized corporate social advocacy (CSA) to challenge or reinforce dominant racial, gender, and cultural norms while positioning itself as an advocate for Black women. A critical textual analysis was conducted of Dove's web-based campaign materials, and Critical Race Theory (CRT) was used as a framework, focusing on core tenets such as: counter-storytelling, interest convergence, whiteness as property, and intersectionality. The findings demonstrate that Dove's campaign actively works to disrupt Eurocentric beauty standards and hair discrimination by centering the lived experiences of Black women and girls, supporting and promoting legislative action and engagement, and using multimedia storytelling and statistical research to inform and raise awareness about hair discrimination. However, the analysis also reveals moments where Dove's advocacy efforts reinforced dominant narratives and reflected corporate interests. This suggests the presence of interest convergence. Although Dove's campaign represents a notable example of corporate involvement in racial equity, it also highlights the complexity and limitations of corporate driven change.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Journalism

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Columbia

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Stephens, Delray

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Mislan, Cristina
• Avanzado, Joseph

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/109773

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/109773