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Announcing a new research series from Routledge:

Routledge Studies in Critical MarketingSeries Editors: Professor Mark Tadajewski (University of Durham, UK) andProfessor 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 studiesdealing with elements of marketing theory, thought, pedagogy and practice using the types of critical socialtheory 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 veryfinest established and emerging scholars working on a given topic. There is no intent to be overly prescriptivebut proposals that deal with, but are not limited to, the following topics would be considered as suitablecontributions to the series:

1. Historical interpretations of the development of marketing theory, thought and practice.Marketing as adiscipline and social practice is not a monolithic entity. Scholars have engaged with ethics and social justicesince the founding of the subject as a university discipline: can we learn anything from these historicalexemplars? 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 waysof looking at the world? Is it status quo oriented? Is it structured by class-based vestedinterests?Can it be radical in orientation?

4. How social structures impacted upon and how they continue to influence the development of marketingtheory, thought and practice. Is marketing inflected by assumptions that reveal gender dynamics, racism orclass, 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 haslegitimated itself and others (e.g. far right political parties).

6. Studies that reveal the processes surrounding market-making and the reaffirmation ofmarketplace practices.

7. Critical interrogations and alternative readings of key concepts: the discourses of marketingorientation, customer orientation, customer relationship management, relationship marketingand so forth, are used in scholarly and practitioner outlets, but are they more rhetoric thanreflective of marketplace reality?

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8. Studies that engage with marketing practice: Critical Marketing is too frequently viewed as uninterested inmarketing practice. Can the latter lead to conceptual critiques potentially more Critical than those offered bythe 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 suchas addictive behaviours or anti-social behaviours?

11. Critical studies of social marketing, marketing to the Bottom ofthe Pyramid and neoliberalism andmarketplace change. Each topic is increasingly widely discussed and may raise interesting questions about therelationship between marketing practice, the state and supra-national actors (e.g. the International MonetaryFund, World Bank).

12. Human resistance to marketing, branding and consumption practices: do consumers resist orescape 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 developedin the UnitedStates or via case studies of companies associated with the US. How does this affect the production ofknowledge? Can such products be transferred and applied elsewhere in the world? Does this create problemsfor 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 stimulatedby learning how to turn multiple theoretical approaches on to any given topic. How can Critical Marketingresearch be used to inform teaching in marketing, especially for those students interested in moving into non-profit, advocacy groups, non-governmental and public sectors?

15. Critiques of Critical Marketing Studies. There is always the danger that by too closely attending to thosewith whom we share similar intellectual allegiances and viewpoints, that the crossfertilization of perspectives isignored. Monographs and edited collections that seek to engage in debate and dialogue (e.g. multipleparadigm research) between logical empiricist, marketingscience, macromarketing, transformative consumerresearch and related communities are welcome.

16. The challenges posed by new theoretical perspectives, especially non-Western perspectives, for marketingtheory, thought, pedagogy and practice. This can include studies that draw upon theological works to scrutinisemarketing 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