"This edited collection brings together scholarly works of both a theoretical and empirical nature to critically analyse the forms and functions of the contemporary celebrity activist, and to examine how these intersect with the political economic structures in which celebrity activists operate. Collectively, the volume illuminates some of the inherent tensions between the ethos of solidarity and compassion that the celebrity activist works to generate, on the one hand; and the processes of corporate sponsorship and discourses of individualism upon which the celebrity often depends, on the other. By offering empirical case studies that situate instances of celebrity activism within specific political contexts, the collection highlights how celebrity activism intersects with some of the underlying structures of gender politics and political discourses such as neoliberalism. In addition, the volume discusses how the tensions between, for example, individualism and solidarity can raise important questions about the authenticity of individual celebrity activists, and how individual celebrity activists work, with varying degrees of success, to obfuscate such tensions and obscure the potential contradictions of their work. This book will be of great interest to students and academics within the fields of politics, international development, political communication, social movements, activism studies, and celebrity culture"--
This article reviews a framework developed by John Street which positions aesthetics, style and performance, and celebrity politics as legitimate features within representative democracy. It applies this framework to the example of (RED), a political consumerism campaign fronted by U2 singer Bono, which raises funds for African AIDS victims. It accounts for the use of style by Bono as a celebrity politician to represent himself as an authoritative figure and (RED) as a legitimate response to the epidemic, and relates this representation to the organisational arrangements underpinning the campaign. Further, it examines the relationship between the interests of these organisations and the manner in which (RED) represents AIDS. The article argues for a further integration of textual readings of celebrity politicians based on their aesthetic qualities, and an appreciation of the organisations that contribute to the production of their campaigns.
The UN's 'recover better' (UN 2020a) statement of attaching climate mitigation to COVID-19 recovery plans and the desire of much of the UK public to 'build back better' through support for a more climate-friendly, green economy (Vaughan 2020) has yet to be fully materialized in policy and has seemingly lost traction in efforts to fast-track the opening up of global economies. For example, the UN has teamed up with Futerra and other environment and development consultancy groups to develop the 'good life goals' as an accessible entry point for the public to engage with the SDGs at the level of the everyday. See https://www.goodlifegoals.org/ for their strategy and approach. https://www.academia.edu/43531525/An_Address_to_the_Corporales_of_the_Republic_of_Sunlight Boykoff M (2011) Who speaks for the climate? Making sense of media reporting on climate change. 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Environ Plan A 42:1273–1285 Article Google Scholar Sullivan R (2020) The geography of the everyday. University of Georgia Press, Athens Google Scholar United Nations (2020a) Climate change and Covid-19: UN urges nations to 'recover better'. https://www.un.org/en/un-coronavirus-communications-team/un-urges-countries-'build-back-better' Accessed 24 Jul, 2020 United Nations (2020b) The Sustainable Development Goals. https://sdgs.un.org/ Accessed 15 Jul, 2020 Vaughan, A (2020) UK citizens' assembly shows big support for green covid-19 recovery. New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2246693-uk-citizens-assembly-shows-big-support-for-green-covid-19-recovery/ Accessed 24 Jul, 2020 Download references This Special Issue arose out of a workshop held at the University of Reading in 2016 entitled 'Practicing Everyday Climate Cultures' that was generously supported by the following funders and individuals at Reading: the Walker Institute (Ros Cornforth); the Global Development Research Division (Rosa Freedman); the Climate, Culture and Society Research Cluster (Alex Arnall and Hilary Geoghegan); the Human Geography Research Cluster (Hilary Geoghegan); The Reading Centre for Climate and Justice (Catriona McKinnon); and the Prosperity and Resilience Research Theme (Dominik Zaum). Additional funding support came from the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) and the Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community, Bournemouth University. We wish to thank all of the authors in the Special Issue for their hard work and patience in producing the excellent work here, but also the additional workshop participants of Alexandra Sexton, James Painter, Alex Arnall, Lydia Messling, Alison Anderson, Jo Hamilton, Melanie Rohse, Lucy Veale, Jo Littler and Martin Mahony. A special note of gratitude goes to Sabine Mayeux for her invaluable work on and support of the workshop. Many thanks to Alex Sexton, David Evans, Dave McLaughlin and Max Boykoff for reading earlier versions of our editorial introduction to the Issue. Finally we...
Many corporations are now in the business of bringing climate change 'home' in the everyday products that those, in much of the Minority world, can purchase and use, providing opportunities for consumers to literally and figuratively 'buy in' to climate mitigation. Yet, what are the implications of this form of highly commoditised, corporate-led, consumer-focused climate branding? In the spaces and practices of the everyday, how and in what ways are corporations framing and socialising responses to climate change and global environmental and social issues? This paper explores these 'questions through a multimodal discourse analysis of Unilever's 'Sustainable Living Plan' ( 2010) and its 'Project Sunlight' campaign (2010–2016). Situating Unilever's sustainability agenda as indicative of the contemporary climate politics of the corporate sector, that also represents a pivotal moment in the cultural politics of climate change, we critically interrogate Unilever's mobilisation of the affective and emotional registers of everyday life and human relations in its model of sustainable living. Specifically, we focus on the ways that Unilever encourages acts of branded consumption as a form of—what we call here—climate care, by invoking normative discourses of gender and family through a form of biopolitics, and, at a larger scale, how the corporation is shaping how particular forms of climate capitalism are socialised, normalised and practiced. In doing so, we shift critical attention away from sustainable business analyses of Unilever onto the unexplored socio-cultural dimensions of Unilever's sustainability model. We argue that Unilever's socialisation of climate branding and care works to depoliticise climate change actions and actors through a biopolitics that creates a false veneer of democratisation in the form of consumer choice, thereby curtailing more progressive societal action on climate change.
