In
Authentic: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture (NYU Press, 2013),
Sarah Banet-Weiser scrutinizes the spread of brand culture into other spheres of social life that the market--at least in our imaginations--had left untouched: politics, religion, creativity, and the self.
Banet-Weiser observes that the authenticity concept seems to carry
more weight in a culture of selling: We have come to expect, and to some extent accept, that authenticity, like everything else, can be trademarked. Through rich case studies--Dove ad campaigns, Facebook self-performance, street art, green activism, and New Age spirituality among them--
Authentic identifies the pervasive (and often troubling) ambivalence of branded living.