Koffman, Ofra and Gill, Rosalind. 2013. 'The revolution will be led by a 12-year-old girl': girl power and global biopolitics. Feminist Review, 105(1), pp. 83-102. ISSN 0141-7789 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

This paper presents a poststructuralist, postcolonial and feminist interrogation of the ‘Girl Effect’. First coined by Nike inc, the ‘Girl Effect’ has become a key development discourse taken up by a wide range of governmental organisations, charities and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). At its heart is the idea that ‘girl power’ is the best way to lift the developing world out of poverty. As well as a policy discourse, the Girl Effect entails an address to Western girls. Through a range of online and offline publicity campaigns, Western girls are invited to take up the cause of girls in the developing world and to lend their support through their use of social media, through fundraising and consumption. Drawing on a wide range of policy documents, media outputs and offline events, this paper explores the way in which the Girl Effect discourse articulates notions of girlhood, empowerment, development and the Global North/South divide.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.2013.16
Additional Information:	Funding: The research on which this paper is based was funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
Keywords:	girl power, development, policy, empowerment, girlhood, virals
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Institute for Cultural and Creative Entrepreneurship (ICCE)
Dates:	Date Event November 2013 Published
Item ID:	37678
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2024 08:54
Last Modified:	27 Sep 2024 08:54
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/37678

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