ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that changes in narrative form enable more complex and three-dimensional representations of social class and labor. Specifically, the first season of NBC’s Superstore taps into circulating discourses about low-wage labor, power imbalances in corporate and worker relations, and intersectional identities. Rather than the Walmart-esque setting as simply one of many types of workplaces, the sitcom’s premise foregrounds narratives that aptly critique multinational conglomerates. Characters are not typical working-class caricatures but instead are defined by a complex mix of identity markers and personality quirks. On a more granular level, though, the show reifies neoliberal tenets that effectually obscure structural inequalities and focus on the individual’s responsibility to improve one’s conditions.
