From A-lister to Aid worker: Does celebrity diplomacy really work? Rock stars," asked Homer Simpson, with his customary sagacity, "is there anything they don't know?" Only these days, of course, it's
not just rockers but movie stars and businessmen – and indeed
anyone with an above-average public profile – who, for one reason or another, are intent on telling the rest of us how the world should be changed for the better.
Or
at least, that's how it seems. So much so that a
conference of eminent professors of international relations assembled recently in The Hague
to explore the modern phenomenon of what they call "
celebrity diplomacy", amid fears that it has
reached the point where superstar lobbyists are damaging the traditional workings of international diplomacy and global politics.
posted by infini
on Jan 16, 2009 -
16 comments
Stop.
Selling.
Che. Doctor, Revolutionary,
Murderer? Whoever he was, it don't mostly matter when he's this generation and the last's favourite
rebelposterboy. Does it even matter, any more, the history behind such powerful brand semantics? It is, apparently, enough to be a symbol nowadays, even if in the end you're one of only ignorance. Is this the ultimate in simulacra? And will They ever stop
marketing our
martyrs? So
who was Che Guevara? And what does he want with our children?
posted by armoured-ant
on Mar 1, 2003 -
42 comments
