Disempowering Through Definition: A Dialogic Ethics for Understanding Consumer Vulnerability Through Nike's 'Mike and Spike' Advertising and African American Consumer History

"I propose a dialogic ethics as a framework for understanding vulnerability and responsibility in consumer environments. Paulo Freire, in particular, helps us to understand that our humanity is bound in dialogue. Dialogue requires co-participation. The naming of groups as vulnerable through sweeping generalizations neglects to empower the oppressed by giving them voice in the encounter. When definitions of vulnerability are instituted in cultural and social structures of meaning without appropriate respect for and discourse with those so-named, then we risk instituting a culture of silence from the oppressed or ""vulnerable."" This dehumanizes the oppressed and diffuses the structures of accountability that come with liberation. Instead, we must engage in true dialogue that accepts multiple voices, presents message that enable critical consciousness and empowers the participants, acknowledges the historical circumstances of our language in discourse, and promotes our humanness, which we find in relation to others."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communications

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Coleman, Catherine Adelaide

Contributors dc:contributor

• Chambers, Jason P.

• Business Administration, Marketing

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3430852

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86607