Russell Brand ─ Comedy, Celebrity, Politics

Russell Brand's arrival as a political activist and his sustained interventions in public debate are a significant cultural phenomenon whose meaning and influence is a matter of widespread interest. A considered academic contribution to this debate is timely and the authors provide a wide expertise on which to draw. This is the first scholarly book on Brand, an entertainer and celebrity who has rarely been out of the news for the past 18 months as he became increasingly involved in activist politics. He has provoked a diverse response ranging from passionate support to equally vitriolic hostility. As a consequence Brand has become a recognized figure of influence at the centre of debates about contemporary politics, and has been described as the most charismatic figure on Britain's populist Left. He has used his publicity and performance skills as a celebrity comedian to encourage an emotional engagement with radical political ideas and to highlight marginalised activist causes. In interviews with key figures, the authors explore his relationship to these activist communities and their views on his political impact.

Jane Arthurs is Professor of Television at Middlesex University. She has published widely on film and television and feminist cultural studies. Her book Television and Sexuality on how the cultural politics of taste affects production, regulation and consumption, includes her well known essay on ‘Sex and the City and Consumer Culture’. 

Ben Little is Lecturer in Media and Cultural Politics at the University of East Anglia. He co-edits Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture and is series editor for the Radical Future ebook series.