Celebrities are increasingly front and centre in public debates on everything from solving world poverty to halting genocide, confronting obesity, and finding spiritual contentment. Bono, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Bob Geldof, Oprah, Madonna, and Angelina Jolie are just some of the entertainers, politicians, pundits, elite business people, and policy-makers whose highly visible political activism has become an integral part of their public personas.

These pop icons tend to be celebrated as “philanthrocapitalists” with a unique ability to remedy the world’s problems. However, as Age of Icons demonstrates, the solutions these icons promote for addressing global injustice, when examined critically, can be seen to work through the very same institutions that create these problems in the first place.

This volume assesses the growing role of popular icons in the construction of a culture that appears to incorporate a critical attitude towards the capitalist experience while, in fact, legitimizing the neoliberal character of the modern world. It will be an eye-opening read for anyone interested in the juncture between current events and celebrity culture.

Gavin Fridell is Canada Research Chair in International Development Studies and an associate professor at Saint Mary’s University. He is also the author of Fair Trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market-Driven Social Justice.

Gavin Fridell's profile page

Martijn Konings is a senior lecturer and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.

Martijn Konings' profile page