Celebrity Advocacy and International Development

Dan Brockington has written a very welcome book on the promise and limits of celebrity advocacy. Methodologically rigorous, scrupulously reflexive and consistently hard-headed in an area where sentimentality and wishful thinking is all too tempting, this book sets new standards for analysis and argument for this debate.

–Nick Couldry, London School of Economics and Political Science, UKDan Brockington demonstrates how corporations, politicians and the NGO community have oriented themselves under the aura of celebrity. The bling in this work is original empirical research on how celebrities and NGOs are working in advocating for attention and funding for international development issues in post-democratic politics.

–Lisa Ann Richey, Roskilde University, Denmark

These days we hardly blink when we hear that another film or rock star takes up a new humanitarian cause. But Dan Brockington makes us stop and stare, to see celebrity advocacy as more than just another feature of show-business. This book provides a clear-eyed and penetrating look at how celebrities become involved in development issues, and the effect that they have. The detail of the analysis and the sharpness of the argument make Celebrity Advocacy and International Development a superb work.

–John Street, University of East Anglia, UK

Dan Brockington has written an important book, exploring the convoluted world of celebrity advocacy. He carefully analyses the evidence and exposes the phenomenon; and just when you think Brockington has delivered his measured conclusions, there comes a powerful 'afterword' which no-one should miss and which suddenly transforms the whole topic.

–Michael Billig, Loughborough University, UK

Sharp, clear and fully engaging, this is one of the most comprehensive and insightful accounts of celebrity advocacy that have been written so far. It will no doubt define the field for many years to come.

–Lilie Chouliaraki , London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Dan Brockington emerges from several years of intelligent, evidenced-based interrogation of the role of celebrities in international development with a genuinely insightful and surprising argument. This book will profoundly change the way we think about celebrities and development.

–Martin Scott, University of East Anglia, UK

Dan Brockington’s excellent book explores the contradictory effects of celebrity populism on international development. He utilizes post-democratic theory to conceptualize the ‘authenticity’ of the affiliations between celebrity activists, non-governmental organizations and public opinion. This is a major resource for anyone who is concerned with the democratic implications of celebrity advocacy.

–Mark Wheeler, London Metropolitan University, UK

With Celebrity Advocacy and International Development, Dan Brockington has made a valuable empirical contribution to the growing field considering the mediation of development issues. His book adds critical weight to the debate surrounding the role of a celebrity in the humanitarian and developmental sphere and is delivered in an eminently readable text that is both balanced and insightful.

–Thomas Reid, University of East Anglia, UK