Celebrity Humanitarianism

<p>In the last two decades especially we have witnessed the rise of ‘celebrity’ forms of global humanitarianism and charity work spearheaded by entertainment stars billionaires and activist NGOs (e.g. Bob Geldof Bono Angelina Jolie Madonna Bill Gates George Soros Save Darfur <em>Medeçins Sans Frontières</em>). This book examines this new phenomenon arguing that celebrity humanitarianism legitimates and indeed promotes neoliberal capitalism and global inequality.</p><p>Drawing on Slavoj Žižek’s work the book argues how celebrity humanitarianism far from being altruistic is significantly contaminated and ideological: it is most often self-serving helping to promote institutional aggrandizement and the celebrity ‘brand’; it advances consumerism and corporate capitalism and rationalizes the very global inequality it seeks to redress; it is fundamentally depoliticizing despite its pretensions to ‘activism’; and it contributes to a ‘postdemocratic’ political landscape which appears outwardly open and consensual but is in fact managed by unaccountable elites.</p>