Description
Book SynopsisA critical account of the rise of celebrity-driven “compassionate consumption.”
Trade Review"There is a desperate need for critical intervention in debates about Product RED and other manifestations of development capitalism. Brand Aid, a smart and edgy book, deftly meets that need. It asks big, penetrating questions about production, consumption, and global inequality and it answers them in rich and provocative ways." —Samantha King, Queens University
"Brand Aid is an original and important contribution to the critique of international development. Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte argue that the celebritization of aid marks an important shift that in effect divests the wealthy of any responsibility for global poverty. Brand Aid is a great book." —Vinh Kim Nguyen, University of Montreal
"Readers and academics interested in the ways corporate philanthropy is evolving will find this useful, as will armchair sociologists." —Publishers Weekly
"This is a thoroughly researched and well-written book and one that pulls no punches; you know from the very first pages how the (RED) initiative will be dissected and found wanting. Thoughtful and highly critical." —Times Higher Education
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction: Product (RED) and the Reinvention of International Aid
1. Band Aid to Brand Aid: Celebrity Experts and Expert Celebrities
2. The Rock Man’s Burden: Vanity, Value, and Virtual Salvation
3. Saving Africa: AIDS and the Rebranding of Aid
4. Hard Commerce: Corporate Social Responsibility for Distant Others
5. Doing Good by Shopping Well: The Rise of “Causumer” Culture
Conclusion: Celebrities, Consumers, and Everyone Else
Notes
Works Cited
Index
