An Arendtian perspective on responsibilized heroes: Why marketing needs a new model of heroic action

This paper explains how disadvantaged consumers challenge their subjugated positioning through self-discipline, recursive reflexivity and narration. Although it is possible to interpret agency as complicit with responsibilization, viewing responsibilized consumers’ entanglement in dynamic market formation complicity disadvantage forecloses on ability resist. Instead, this argues resistance at the human level involves subjectivation processes according different spatiotemporal logics. means paradoxically resembles conformity within a heroic path of against social disadvantage. Drawing Arendt’s (1958) categorization activities helps surface politics from self-interest collective interest change. The findings suggest theoretical realignment needed (1) delineate limits responsibilization adequately explain heterogeneous types self-discipline processes; (2) expose political nature compliance non-market forces.