Assistant Professor Dr Ipsita Pradhan, Department of Liberal Arts, has recently published a book review on the renowned LSE Review of Books website. In her recent review, Dr Pradhan offers insightful perspectives on the book Confidence Culture by Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill. This crucially important book appeals to media studies, American studies, and feminist scholars, as well as a wide public audience.
Dr Ipsita Pradhan elaborates on how the book assures that self-love affirmations in contemporary times are not free from the disciplinarian gaze of the market and its neoliberal capitalist mechanisms, as it is often measured through one’s productivity. She commends the authors’ rigorous research and compelling arguments, stating that the book offers a much-needed critique of the prevailing cultural narrative around confidence.
“In Confidence Culture, Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill explore the demands that the cultural imperative of confidence particularly places on women. Enriched by abundant examples drawn from across popular culture to show how ‘confidence culture’ puts the onus on individuals to navigate and solve systemic problems, this book is necessary reading for scholars of gender, media studies and sociology”, writes Dr Ipsita Pradhan.
LSE Review of Books publishes daily reviews of academic books across the social sciences. It aims to facilitate the sharing and exchange of knowledge between experts within and outside the academy and to open up academic research to increase its impact. LSE Review of Books is a forum to encourage engagement with the latest academic publications across the social sciences and the humanities.