Call for papers: Celebrity Philanthropy, edited book
Editors: Paul Allatson and Elaine Jeffreys
Affiliation: University of Technology, Sydney
Contact details: (Paul.Allatson /at/ uts.edu.au), (Elaine.Jeffreys /at/ uts.edu.au)
Abstract deadline: Potential contributors should
send an abstract, maximum 200 words, with full
contact details, to the editors named above by 1 May 2010.
Chapter deadline: 15 November 2010, maximum 8,000 words plus references.
Celebrity Philanthropy
Celebrity philanthropy and the study of the
sociopolitical role and impact of the celebrity
philanthropist are growing cultural phenomena.
While the involvement of celebrities in
philanthropic work and activism is neither a new
nor recent phenomenon, many critics agree that
celebrity philanthropy has expanded and evolved
in western societies since the 1990s. This
change is usually attributed to a combination of
factors: the post-Cold War triumph of
neoliberalism and the decline of socialism and
the welfare state ideal; the failure of
governments and politicians to resolve the
structural inequalities of globalization; the
spread of information technology; the growing
dependence of an increasingly competitive
non-profit sector on marketing, branding and
public relations; and the pervasiveness of celebrity culture in everyday life.
Among critics, celebrity philanthropy is
alternatively praised and criticized as a
manifestation of the perceived benefits and
downsides of advanced capitalism and western
liberal democracy in action. It is lauded for
popularizing humanitarian values and global
citizenship, or condemned for affirming global
capitalism and undermining philanthropyâ??s
potentially transformative emphasis on the need
for social change. While praise for celebrity
philanthropy often overstates its capacity to
transform society, much criticism of celebrity
philanthropy dismisses celebrity as the epitome
of all that is superficial and deplorable about contemporary life.
This edited volume on celebrity philanthropy
seeks to move beyond blanket dismissals of
celebrity philanthropy by approaching celebrity,
philanthropy and international humanitarianism
as related historical products of capitalism and
the mass media. The volume aims to explore how
celebrity politics, celebrity philanthropy,
celebrity activism, and the individual
motivations of celebrities and their fans for
philanthropic engagement, can take very different forms.
The editors welcome case studies and typologies
of celebrity philanthropy from across the world
today that explore such issues as the links or
tensions between celebrity philanthropy and
activism, the theorization of celebrity politics
and of celebrity philanthropy as a mode of
cultural citizenship, and the role of fans in
the operations of celebrity philanthropy. We
particularly welcome studies of celebrity
philanthropy in developing countries, both to
provide a comparative framework for assessing
the perceived benefits or otherwise of celebrity
engagement in philanthropic activities, and to
balance the western and Anglophone bias of existing studies.
