The production and construction of celebrity advocacy in international development

Abstract

There has been a proliferation of celebrity within development publicity, media events and representations, which has received little attention from development scholars. This paper charts the rise of celebrity within development, drawing from over 120 interviews conducted with development, media and celebrity professionals. I examine how the presence of celebrity within development is mediated and the political economy of the celebrity-charity-corporate complex which results. I use these findings to interrogate recent writings on the work of celebrity advocacy in development and demonstrate that understanding the production and construction of celebrity development interventions helps substantially in understanding their effects. © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.