- Patriarchy in the Digital Conjuncture: An Analysis of Google's James Damore Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2020. Patriarchy in the Digital Conjuncture: An Analysis of Google's James Damore. New Formations(102), pp. 44-63. ISSN 0950-2378
- Generation: the politics of patriarchy and social change Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2017. Generation: the politics of patriarchy and social change. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture(66), pp. 129-144. ISSN 1362-6620
- ''Does Feminism Have a Generation Gap?": Blogging, Millennials and the Hip Hop Generation Winch, Alison. 2017. ''Does Feminism Have a Generation Gap?": Blogging, Millennials and the Hip Hop Generation. Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities, 22(1), pp. 207-221. ISSN 0969-725X
- “just hanging out with you in my back yard”: Mark Zuckerberg and Mediated Paternalism Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2017. “just hanging out with you in my back yard”: Mark Zuckerberg and Mediated Paternalism. Open Cultural Studies, 1(1), pp. 417-427. ISSN 2451-3474
- 'I just think it's dirty and lazy': Fat surveillance and erotic capital Winch, Alison. 2016. 'I just think it's dirty and lazy': Fat surveillance and erotic capital. Sexualities, 19(8), pp. 898-913. ISSN 1363-4607
- ‘Roundtable: An Intergenerational Feminist Media Studies?’ with Rosalind Gill, Hannah Hamad, Mariam Kauser, Diane Negra and Nayomi Roshini Littler, Jo and Winch, Alison. 2016. ‘Roundtable: An Intergenerational Feminist Media Studies?’ with Rosalind Gill, Hannah Hamad, Mariam Kauser, Diane Negra and Nayomi Roshini. Feminist Media Studies, 16(4), pp. 726-736. ISSN 1468-0777
- Why “intergenerational feminist media studies”? Winch, Alison; Littler, Jo and Keller, Jessalynn. 2016. Why “intergenerational feminist media studies”? Feminist Media Studies, 16(4), pp. 557-572. ISSN 1468-0777
- Feminism and childcare: A roundtable with Sara de Benedictis, Gideon Burrows, Tracey Jensen, Jill Rutter and Victoria Showunmi Littler, Jo and Winch, Alison. 2016. Feminism and childcare: A roundtable with Sara de Benedictis, Gideon Burrows, Tracey Jensen, Jill Rutter and Victoria Showunmi. Studies in the Maternal, 8(1), 2. ISSN 1759-0434
- Brand Intimacy, Female Friendship and Digital Surveillance Networks Winch, Alison. 2015. Brand Intimacy, Female Friendship and Digital Surveillance Networks. New Formations(84/85), pp. 228-245. ISSN 0950-2378
- Feminism, generation and intersectionality: Generational differences within feminism are also opportunities for dialogue Winch, Alison. 2015. Feminism, generation and intersectionality: Generational differences within feminism are also opportunities for dialogue. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture(58), pp. 8-20. ISSN 1362-6620
- “Drinking a Dish of Tea With Sapho”: The Sexual Fantasies of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Lord Byron Winch, Alison. 2013. “Drinking a Dish of Tea With Sapho”: The Sexual Fantasies of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Lord Byron. Women's Writing, 20(1), pp. 82-99. ISSN 0969-9082
- The Girlfriend Gaze Winch, Alison. 2012. The Girlfriend Gaze. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture(52), pp. 21-32. ISSN 1362-6620
- Here comes the brand: Wedding media and the management of transformation Winch, Alison and Webster, Anna. 2012. Here comes the brand: Wedding media and the management of transformation. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 26(1), pp. 51-59. ISSN 1030-4312
- 'We can have it all': The Girlfriend Flick Winch, Alison. 2012. 'We can have it all': The Girlfriend Flick. Feminist Media Studies, 12(1), pp. 69-82. ISSN 1468-0777
- ‘Your new smart-mouthed girlfriends’: Postfeminist Conduct Books Winch, Alison. 2011. ‘Your new smart-mouthed girlfriends’: Postfeminist Conduct Books. Journal of Gender Studies, 20(4), pp. 359-370. ISSN 0958-9236
Alison Winch
Alison looks at connections between intimacy and power in digital cultures.
Staff details
Position
Lecturer in Promotional Media
Department
Media, Communications and Cultural Studies
a.winch (@gold.ac.uk)
Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups
Alison is a critic and poet. In her academic work she analyses intimacy and power in a branded media culture, using Cultural Studies and feminist theory. Her books include the co-authored The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism: Celebrity Tech Founders and Networks of Power (Routledge 2021).
Alison has also published on generation, brand sociality, celebrity, wedding media, and surveillance networks, among others. Her monograph Girlfriends and Postfeminist Sisterhood (Palgrave, 2013) looks at how the affect of friendship is harnessed across popular culture.
Alison's current research project analyses the household as a primary site of data extraction for platforms and their advertising technologies. Her third monograph is on Promotional Media (Polity 2025). She is writing her second full poetry collection.
Working across theory and practice, Alison co-convenes BA Promotional Media with Ruth Garland.
Teaching and supervision
Convenor MC51005B Culture and Cultural Studies
Convenor MC52069A The Promotional Industries: Convergence and the Digital
Co-Convenor MC52069A Creative Collaborations
- BA Promotional Media: PR, Advertising and Branding
- BA Media and Communications
Research interests
Alison's second monograph is The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism: Celebrity Tech Founders and Networks of Power (Routledge 2021) which is co-authored with Ben Little. This book offers a critique of the billionaire founders of US West Coast tech companies, addressing their collective power, influence and ideology, their group dynamics and the role they play in the wider socio-cultural and political formations of digital capitalism.
Alison's current single-authored research project analyses the household as a primary site of data extraction for platforms and their advertising technologies. She investigates the speculative subjectivities forged in the contemporary postdigital asset economy.
Her third monograph is on Promotional Media (Polity 2025).
She is writing her second full poetry collection.
Featured publications
2021: The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism: Celebrity Tech Founders and Networks of Power (Routledge)
2021: 'Mediating American Hospitality: Mark Zuckerberg's Challenge to Donald Trump?' European Journal of Cultural Studies 24, 6: 1243-1260
2020: 'Patriarchy in the Digital Conjuncture: An Analysis of Google's James Damore'. New Formations, 102: 44-63.
2015: Brand Intimacy, Female Friendship and Digital Surveillance Networks New Formations. 84/85: 228-245
2013: Girlfriends and Postfeminist Sisterhood (Palgrave)
Publications and research outputs
Article
- Generating Intimacy: Rage, Female Friendship, and the Heteropatriarchal Household on TV after #MeToo Schaller, Karen Ann and Winch, Alison. 2025. Generating Intimacy: Rage, Female Friendship, and the Heteropatriarchal Household on TV after #MeToo. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 50(2), pp. 491-514. ISSN 0097-9740
- Roundtable Discussion Hakim, Jamie; Kanai, Akane; Redmond, Sean; Winch, Alison and Wood, Rachel. 2024. Roundtable Discussion. Journal of Gender Studies, ISSN 0958-9236
- Mediating American hospitality: Mark Zuckerberg’s challenge to Donald Trump? Winch, Alison and Little, Ben. 2021. Mediating American hospitality: Mark Zuckerberg’s challenge to Donald Trump? European Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(6), pp. 1243-1260. ISSN 1367-5494
Audio
- The Tech Bro Billionaires are Playing Us All Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2023. The Tech Bro Billionaires are Playing Us All.
Book
- The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism: Celebrity Tech Founders and Networks of Power Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2021. The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism: Celebrity Tech Founders and Networks of Power. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9780367260118
- Darling, It's Me Winch, Alison. 2019. Darling, It's Me. London: Penned in the Margins. ISBN 9781908058676
- Trouble Winch, Alison. 2016. Trouble. Birmingham: The Emma Press. ISBN 9781910139394
Book Section
- A Conjunctural Cultural Studies Approach to the Millennial Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2024. A Conjunctural Cultural Studies Approach to the Millennial. In: Helen Kingstone and Jennie Bristow, eds. Studying Generations: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Bristol: Bristol University Press, pp. 85-104. ISBN 9781529223491
- ‘Bishop Berkeley is my Boyfriend’ [poem] Winch, Alison. 2020. ‘Bishop Berkeley is my Boyfriend’ [poem]. In: , ed. The Forward Book of Poetry 2020: The Best Poems from the Forward Prizes. London: Bookmark, p. 133. ISBN 9780571353880
- 'I'm selling the dream really aren't I?' Sharing Fit Male Bodies on Social Networking Sites Winch, Alison and Hakim, Jamie. 2016. 'I'm selling the dream really aren't I?' Sharing Fit Male Bodies on Social Networking Sites. In: Sandro Carnicelli; David McGillivray and Gayle McPherson, eds. Digital Leisure Cultures: Critical Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 39-52. ISBN 9781138955073
Conference or Workshop Item
- Invited ‘Consenting to the Promotional Household in the Current Conjuncture’ Winch, Alison. 2023. 'Invited ‘Consenting to the Promotional Household in the Current Conjuncture’'. In: Conjuncture Workshop. Technische Universität Dresden, Germany 27-29 October 2023.
- Founders, Rivalries and US West Coast Tech Winch, Alison. 2023. 'Founders, Rivalries and US West Coast Tech'. In: Digital Platforms and the Future of Political Solidarity. LSE, United Kingdom 28 March 2023.
- Consenting to the Promotional Household Winch, Alison. 2023. 'Consenting to the Promotional Household'. In: Algorithms For Her? 2. University of Sheffield, United Kingdom 23 - 24 March 2023.
Digital
- Digital Capitalism in the Age of the New Patriarchs Winch, Alison and Little, Ben. 2023. Digital Capitalism in the Age of the New Patriarchs.
- Thomas Hobbes Works Motherhood Winch, Alison. 2018. Thomas Hobbes Works Motherhood.
Edited Book
- Encountering Buddhism in Twentieth-Century British and American Literature Normand, Lawrence and Winch, Alison, eds. 2013. Encountering Buddhism in Twentieth-Century British and American Literature. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781441184764
Edited Journal
- Neoliberalism, Feminism, Transnationalism Winch, Alison; Forkert, Kirsten and Davison, Sally, eds. 2019. Neoliberalism, Feminism, Transnationalism, Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, (71). 1362-6620
- Mediated Intimacies: Relationships, Bodies, Technology Attwood, Feona; Hakim, Jamie and Winch, Alison, eds. 2017. Mediated Intimacies: Relationships, Bodies, Technology, Journal of Gender Studies, 26(3). 0958-9236
- An Intergenerational Feminist Media Studies: Conflicts and Connectivities Winch, Alison; Littler, Jo and Keller, Jessalynn, eds. 2016. An Intergenerational Feminist Media Studies: Conflicts and Connectivities, Feminist Media Studies, 16(4). 1468-0777
Film/Video
- This Conjuncture: Patriarchy in the digital conjuncture Winch, Alison. 2021. This Conjuncture: Patriarchy in the digital conjuncture.
- Book launch for The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism Winch, Alison and Little, Ben. 2021. Book launch for The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism.
Other
- Musk isn’t serious about fighting, Zuckerberg says Winch, Alison. 2023. Musk isn’t serious about fighting, Zuckerberg says. The Washington Post, Washington.
- Strike Badge Winch, Alison. 2023. Strike Badge. leftcultures.com.
- Billionaires gone wild: Musk, Zuckerberg slash jobs, roll dice with future of Bay Area tech icons Little, Ben and Winch, Alison. 2022. Billionaires gone wild: Musk, Zuckerberg slash jobs, roll dice with future of Bay Area tech icons. The Mercury News, San Jose, California.