Full Description
Recent years have witnessed the increasing visibility of Asian celebrities in activism, advocacy, diplomacy, philanthropy, and ambassadorship but this phenomenon is under-explored. This volume provides a critical intervention in celebrity activism and philanthropy by examining the civic imaginaries and mobilisations of Asian celebrities-turned-activists or philanthropists, alongside an array of significations and tensions involved. The analysis anchors on a roster of high-profile Asian icons including Bollywood star Aamir Khan, K-pop sensation BTS, Cantopop singer Denise Ho, and Chinese live-streamer Weiya, who exhibit universal morals while underscoring local or regional affiliations as propelled by expansive media networks. Adopting cosmopolitics as the methodological frame, this volume suggests "muliversal consciousness," a staple to code the star-powered goodwill in times of disjuncture and rupture. To its critical ends, this book attempts to disrupt the Eurocentric tendency in the discursive construction of celebrity-cause dynamics, disentangling the complexities of Asian power, global citizenship, and techno-capitalist logics.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgement
Introduction
An Uncharted Terrain: Asian Celebrities' Engagement in Activism and Philanthropy
1. Bollywood Stardom and Advocacy: Aamir Khan's Crossover Persona and the Imagined Sino-Indian Relations
2. Beyond the K-pop Spectacle: BTS' "Love Myself" Campaign, Celebrity Diplomacy, and Fan Activism
3. Ryuichi Sakamoto's Eco-activist Persona
4. Denise Ho's Celebrity Activism in Contemporary Hong Kong
5. The "Sales Queen" Doing Good: Weiya and the Wanghong Philanthropy in China's Live-streaming Landscape
6. Global Pandemic and the Inter-Asian Discourse of Celebrity: The Rise of a New Form of Solidarity
Conclusion
Toward an Imaginary of Cosmopolitical Asia
Index
