The Political Economy of Celebrity Activism

This edited collection brings together a range of research focusing on the political economy of celebrity activism. It seeks to advance current understandings of the complex relationships between celebrity activists, traditional political figures, non-profit organisations, the corporate sector, celebrity audiences and grassroots campaigners. It explores the economic nature of these relationships and how factors such as sponsorship, branding, corporate social responsibility and the marketisation of the non-profit sector are articulated through the celebrity activist.

This comprehensive volume provides an overall view of some of the key ways in which political economy intersects with popular culture in a variety of local, regional and global contexts through the celebrity activist. It also seeks to uncover how a political economic analysis of celebrity activism can illuminate the relationships between the celebrity activist and both for-profit and non-profit actors.

This book offers a coherent theoretical and empirical contribution to understandings of how celebrity activism relates to the emergence of forms of symbolic capital, the relationships these have with forms of economic capital, the tensions this creates, the questions of authenticity these tensions foster, and how celebrity activists’ symbolic capital can be used to obfuscate such tensions. It 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.

Nathan Farrell is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at Bournemouth University, UK. His research interests include celebrity activism, corporate social responsibility, and popular culture. His work on celebrity activism has been published in a number of international journals.