Announcing a new research series from Routledge:

Routledge Studies in Critical Marketing

Series Editors: Professor Mark Tadajewski (University of Durham, UK) and Professor Pauline Maclaran (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

Call for Proposals

This series of monographs and edited texts will provide an outlet for conceptually and empirically rich studies dealing with elements of marketing theory, thought, pedagogy and practice using the types of critical social theory characteristic of Critical Marketing. Studies suitable for this series include theoretical contributions, conceptual elaborations, as well as empirical research that questions current received wisdom. The editors welcome proposals for traditional monographs and edited collections which bring together the very finest established and emerging scholars working on a given topic. There is no intent to be overly prescriptive but proposals that deal with, but are not limited to, the following topics would be considered as suitable contributions to the series: 1. Historical interpretations of the development of marketing theory, thought and practice.Marketing as a discipline and social practice is not a monolithic entity. Scholars have engaged with ethics and social justice since the founding of the subject as a university discipline: can we learn anything from these historical exemplars? Does this work speak to contemporary concerns and issues? Is it problematic? 2. Whose interest does marketing research and practice serve? What are the implications of the (arguably current) focus on the needs and wants of one stakeholder group (i.e. marketing managers)? 3. Power relations and marketing: is marketing a neutral tool-box? Does it support particular ways of looking at the world? Is it status quo oriented? Is it structured by class-based vested interests? Can it be radical in orientation? 4. How social structures impacted upon and how they continue to influence the development of marketing theory, thought and practice. Is marketing inflected by assumptions that reveal gender dynamics, racism or class, for instance, which have performative effects on society? 5. Studies that deal with the changing nature of marketing discourse, charting the ways in which marketing has legitimated itself and others (e.g. far right political parties). 6. Studies that reveal the processes surrounding market-making and the reaffirmation of marketplace practices. 7. Critical interrogations and alternative readings of key concepts: the discourses of marketing orientation, customer orientation, customer relationship management, relationship marketing and so forth, are used in scholarly and practitioner outlets, but are they more rhetoric than reflective of marketplace reality?

8. Studies that engage with marketing practice: Critical Marketing is too frequently viewed as uninterested in marketing practice. Can the latter lead to conceptual critiques potentially more Critical than those offered by the very scholars claiming to critique practice? 9. Contributions that engage with embodied responses to marketing activities and how these may challenge the cognitive emphasis in much marketing theory. 10. Insights into the nature of advertising on society: is it a mirror of societal desires or something else entirely? How does advertising shape consumer self-perceptions, body image, and the dark side of consumption such as addictive behaviours or anti-social behaviours? 11. Critical studies of social marketing, marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid and neoliberalism and marketplace change. Each topic is increasingly widely discussed and may raise interesting questions about the relationship between marketing practice, the state and supra-national actors (e.g. the International Monetary Fund, World Bank). 12. Human resistance to marketing, branding and consumption practices: do consumers resist or escape the market? Can they be put to work as creative actors in their own right? 13. The universalization of marketing thought. Marketing theory has historically been developed in the United States or via case studies of companies associated with the US. How does this affect the production of knowledge? Can such products be transferred and applied elsewhere in the world? Does this create problems for the recipients of such insights (e.g with respect to cultural homogenisation and imperialism)? 14. Critical Marketing and marketing pedagogy. Students are interested in critical perspectives and stimulated by learning how to turn multiple theoretical approaches on to any given topic. How can Critical Marketing research be used to inform teaching in marketing, especially for those students interested in moving into nonprofit, advocacy groups, non-governmental and public sectors? 15. Critiques of Critical Marketing Studies. There is always the danger that by too closely attending to those with whom we share similar intellectual allegiances and viewpoints, that the crossfertilization of perspectives is ignored. Monographs and edited collections that seek to engage in debate and dialogue (e.g. multiple paradigm research) between logical empiricist, marketing science, macromarketing, transformative consumer research and related communities are welcome. 16. The challenges posed by new theoretical perspectives, especially non-Western perspectives, for marketing theory, thought, pedagogy and practice. This can include studies that draw upon theological works to scrutinise marketing theory and practice.

If you would like a more detailed discussion about preparing a proposal for the series, the Editors, Mark Tadajewski (University of Durham) and Pauline Maclaran (Royal Holloway, University of London), will be very happy to answer your questions. Please email Mark.Tadajewski@durham.ac.uk and Pauline.Maclaran@rhul.ac.uk