A Companion to Celebrity by Marshall P. David; Redmond Sean; & Sean Redmond

Author:Marshall, P. David; Redmond, Sean; & Sean Redmond [Marshall, P. David & Redmond, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781118474921
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2015-09-28T00:00:00+00:00

Elaborating on the Contested Nature of Celebrity Diplomacy

Detractors of the phenomenon of celebrity diplomacy highlight how the actions of some celebrities are merely attempts to engrain and promote their individual importance and remain in the public eye. Others contend that celebrities are not the proper vehicles for conveying and addressing complex issues, arguing that “there is a case to question the legitimacy of celebrities to speak with authority on development and other international issues” (Dieter and Kumar 2008: 262).

From a traditional diplomatic perspective, the effectiveness of celebrity efforts is called into question by focusing on the limits of their influence. Certainly celebrity diplomats, and celebrity activists more widely, engage not in the big issues of security but in the “low” issue areas pertaining to economic and social issues. Yet, it would be an exaggeration to suggest that celebrities have moved into a position where they are doing everything and everywhere. As with the “new diplomacy” associated with mixed coalitions of small/middle states with NGOs around landmines/International Criminal Court (ICC)/small arms/child soldiers, celebrities have picked their niches.

Another area of contestation about celebrities concerns their autonomy. Instead of viewing celebrities as club/networked actors in their own right, some critics view them as co-opted individuals: or what Bianca Jagger, in an article for the New Statesman in the UK, termed “sleeping with the enemy” (2005). Seen from this alternative perspective, the dots are connected up in a very different fashion than the image of a networked spanner of boundaries. Instead of privileging the dynamics of Bono's own hub via DATA/ONE and other activities, the exclusive focus is on what is taken to be the cozying up behavior toward Bush, Blair and the G8 summit.

Such a view, nonetheless, plays down the subtle nature of Bono's approach. His mantra is to continually play key political leaders off against each other, balancing intense involvement with an eye to keeping the boundaries of access open to as many as decision-makers as possible. Nudging and cajoling goes hand in hand with maintaining a presence in core policy circles. Public rebukes are reserved for the smaller players or those on their way out of power. The G8 summit provides a state-centric target. The World Economic Forum, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, provides the core site for deepening the logic of the network society.

The potential problem with the Bono network is not the intrusion into public space. The bilateral relationship Bono forged with Bush and Blair – and his privileged access with Geldof at the Gleneagles summit, both physically (via helicopter) and symbolically (in terms of their presence at the communiqué signing) – may indicate an appreciation of the mobilization, channeling, and mediation role highlighted by the sociological theory. But it did not create a crisis in governance in that Bono's meetings were media driven and hoisted on the back of the unique Live 8 “mandate” that a message on debt and development assistance be delivered to the G8 leaders.

The greater potential difficulty with the network encompassing

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