Abstract
Celebrity advocacy for environmental causes has grown dramatically in recent decades. An examination of this expansion and the rise of causes such as climate change reveals the shifting politics and organization of advocacy. We address these changes to the construction and interpretation of celebrity advocacy and detail how they have produced a rich variety of environmental celebrity advocates. We also account for differences between legacy (e.g., radio, TV, newspapers) and online celebrities and their practices (e.g., hashtag publics, brandjacking, online communities). Environmental celebrity advocates’ performances can be divided into nine tropes, each characterized in part by the particular varieties of environmentalism that they promote. We present the tropes and discuss their five cross-cutting themes. We conclude with a set of questions for future research on celebrity environmentalism.
Highlights
Publication trends of work on celebrity and the environment in Web of Science
The authors of this paper reviewed recent contributions describing celebrity environmentalism from diverse academic literatures including politics, geography, media and communication studies, and development studies, alongside recent news reports and social media appearances featuring the newest celebrity environmentalism initiatives
In the following discussion, we describe the performative tropes of celebrity environmentalism, starting with a trope that goes beyond humans as environmental actors
Summary
Publication trends of work on celebrity and the environment in Web of Science. We searched the Web of Science “Core Collection” yielding slightly more than 200 articles, of which 48 were genuine hits. Of celebrity advocacy can be unruly, where environmental affairs are concerned. Their politics and consequences, we surmise, are not wholly predictable. It is beyond the scope of this review to provide the details of each celebrity addressed, we offer references to guide further engagement. We offer a set of questions for future research on celebrity environmentalism. Readers of this journal may be familiar with the meaning of environmentalism, but not with the different definitions of celebrity. Definitions have been derived from the appearance of celebrity in what is referred to as legacy media such as radio, television, film, and newspapers. We must include definitions based on celebrity in social media
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