Taylor Swift: Culture, Capital, and Critique

This edited collection sees experts across a wide range of academic fields turn their attention to all things Taylor Swift. From looking at how being part of Swift’s fandom helps fans gain skills for other areas of their life, to Swift’s inspiration for drag persona Taylor Sheesh in the Philippines, to whether Swift’s lyrics suggest she endorses the use of public transport, this book covers it all.

This book contributes to the rising area of Swift Studies, with an introductory explanation of how biases in the academy regarding popular culture, pop music as a genre, and femininities, have traditionally worked against a focus on Swift. The collection is divided into five sections which cover: Swift fans (“Swifties”) and fandom; Swift in relation to gender, femininity, and feminism; the limits of Swift in terms of Whiteness and colonialism; queer engagements with Swift; and Swift’s impact on/relation to the music industry, cities, and communities.

The chapters in the collection do not necessarily look at Swift the individual person, but rather, Swift the phenomenon. This book will be useful for teachers and students across an array of disciplines including but not limited to Cultural Studies, Media and Communications, Sport Studies, History, Gender and Sexuality Studies, English and Literature, Law, Sociology, Indigenous Studies, Urban Planning, Geography, and Business Studies. This collection prioritises voices from the Asia-Pacific, offering an important contribution to Swift Studies. This book has something for everyone, from the Swift fan to the Swift skeptic.

Hannah McCann is a senior lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Hannah’s academic work sits within the field of Critical Femininity Studies, with research on topics including queer femininities, beauty culture, and queer fandom. She is the author of Queering Femininity: Sexuality, Feminism and the Politics of Presentation (Routledge) and co-author of Queer Theory Now: From Foundations to Futures (available via Bloomsbury).

Eloise Faichney is a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Eloise’s research interrogates historical, digital, and popular culture life narratives; creative writing across digital platforms; and critical digital pedagogies. She is currently working on a novel about the volatile friendship of 20th-century authors, Naomi Mitchison and Doris Lessing.

Rebecca Trelease is a senior lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand. Her research examines the reality television genre through the lens of taste and class. Rebecca is the 2024 designer of the Taylor Swift: Communications Professional accredited course at AUT.

Emma Whatman is an early career researcher, lecturer, and writer from Melbourne, Australia. Emma’s research explores contemporary feminism, young people’s media cultures, and sex education. She works as a research fellow and sessional lecturer at Deakin University and the University of Melbourne.