Celebrity-led development organisations: the legitimating function of elite engagement

Alexandra Cosima Budabin*, Louise Mubanda Rasmussen, Lisa Ann Richey

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    14 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The past decade has seen a frontier open up in international development engagement with the entrance of new actors such as celebrity-led organisations. We explore how such organisations earn legitimacy with a focus on Madonna’s Raising Malawi and Ben Affleck’s Eastern Congo Initiative. The study draws from organisational materials, interviews, mainstream news coverage, and the texts of the celebrities themselves to investigate the construction of authenticity, credibility, and accountability. We find these organisations earn legitimacy and flourish rapidly amid supportive elite networks for funding, endorsements, and expertise. We argue that the ways in which celebrity-led organisations establish themselves as legitimate development actors illustrate broader dynamics of the machinery of development.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalThird World Quarterly
    Volume38
    Issue number9
    Pages (from-to)1952-1972
    Number of pages21
    ISSN0143-6597
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Keywords

    • accountability
    • authenticity
    • Celebrities
    • credibility
    • legitimacy
    • new actors

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