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Celebrity Activism and Philanthropy in Asia

Toward a Cosmopolitical Imaginary

Dorothy Lau author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Amsterdam University Press

Published:1st Jul '24

£96.00

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Celebrity Activism and Philanthropy in Asia cover

Recent years have witnessed the increasing visibility of Asian celebrities in activism, advocacy, diplomacy, philanthropy, and ambassadorship but this phenomenon is under-explored. This volume provides a critical intervention in celebrity activism and philanthropy by examining the civic imaginaries and mobilisations of Asian celebrities-turned-activists or philanthropists, alongside an array of significations and tensions involved. The analysis anchors on a roster of high-profile Asian icons including Bollywood star Aamir Khan, K-pop sensation BTS, Cantopop singer Denise Ho, and Chinese live-streamer Weiya, who exhibit universal morals while underscoring local or regional affiliations as propelled by expansive media networks. Adopting cosmopolitics as the methodological frame, this volume suggests “muliversal consciousness,” a staple to code the star-powered goodwill in times of disjuncture and rupture. To its critical ends, this book attempts to disrupt the Eurocentric tendency in the discursive construction of celebrity-cause dynamics, disentangling the complexities of Asian power, global citizenship, and techno-capitalist logics.

"At a time of cross-border stardom and fandom, Lau’s book brings in a groundbreaking approach to what constitutes goodwill stardom and celebrity-hood through detailed and methodologically sound case studies from India, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, while also representing different media and technology outlets and industries. Professor Liza Tsaliki, Department of Communication & Media Studies, School of Economics & Political Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

ISBN: 9789463720090

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

160 pages