The fallacy of the autonomous celebrity activist in international politics: George Clooney and Mia Farrow in Darfur

Abstract

Celebrities have been accused of oversimplifying the conflict in Darfur, of exaggerating the number of people killed and of cursorily labelling it the ‘first genocide of the 21st century’. Celebrity activists have also been criticized for advocating drastic measures like military intervention, and for aggressively pursuing the fulfilment of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court at the expense of quiet diplomacy and reconciliation, ultimately making matters worse. This article examines the role of two Hollywood celebrities—Mia Farrow and George Clooney—in Sudan's ‘messy war’. It claims that most proponents and critics of celebrity activism overestimate the role that these two individuals played. Clooney and Farrow did not act alone but were latecomer adherents to a transnational advocacy network (the Save Darfur Coalition) and their role was more in strengthening than in altering messages.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the journal's anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions on a previous version of the article.

Notes

¹ For the growing involvement of celebrities in transnational politics see Cooper (2008) and Tsaliki and colleagues (2011).

² See the comments of Enoch Awejok, an official at South Sudan's embassy in Washington, quoted in Goffe (2011).

³ This is not to claim that no observer has so far treated Clooney and Farrow as members of the Save Darfur Coalition. The most notable example is probably Mahmood Mamdani (2009, 53–55).

⁴ Obviously, the fact that TANs do not usually develop formal, hierarchical structures does not imply that there are no power differentials (and, by extension, differences in terms of influence) among their members.

⁵ For a highly critical view of the Coalition's work see Mamdani (2009).

⁶ This section draws on Huliaras and Tzifakis (2010, 268–272).

⁷ See, for instance, Glaister (2007); Lake (2007); Cooper (2007) and Cooper and Schrumm (2007).

⁸ For critical approaches to their activism, see inter alia, Bowman (2007), Cunningham (2008) and Mamdani (2009).