Personal connections, unexpected journeys: U2 and Angelina Jolie in Bosnia

Abstract

This article examines whether there is a steady pattern of celebrity engagement with humanitarian issues through a study of the involvement of U2 and Angelina Jolie in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The activism of these two celebrities was limited in both time and content and developed at different phases of the country’s recent history. The article notes that their involvement was idiosyncratic and was not developed at certain ‘turning points’ or ‘critical junctures’ of the conflict. It also argues that their activism was primarily motivated by personal networks: the decision of U2 and Jolie to get involved was prompted by their acquaintance with people who knew and cared about Bosnia. Therefore, the article highlights the role of intermediaries and underlines the need to study the personal networks that initiate and/or facilitate celebrity involvement in social causes.

Keywords:

• humanitarianism
• conflict
• motivation
• networks

ORCID

Nikolaos Tzifakis http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4653-6882

Notes

1. Bill Carter: author, filmmaker, activist. http://www.billcarter.cc/#!vstc2=films [Accessed 23 July 2011].

2. War Child: Little pieces. http://www.warchild.org/Interactive_Galleries/LittlePieces/littlepieces.html [Accessed 20 August 2011].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Asteris Huliaras

Asteris Huliaras is Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of the Peloponnese. His articles have appeared in African Affairs, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, The Journal of Contemporary African Studies, The Journal of Modern African Studies, The Journal of North African Studies, Geopolitics, Global Society, International Journal, Orbis, Survival and The World Today. He recently co-edited the book Transnational Celebrity Activism in Global Politics (Intellect/Chicago University Press, 2011).

Nikolaos Tzifakis

Nikolaos Tzifakis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the University of the Peloponnese. His publications include articles in Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Ethnopolitics, European Foreign Affairs Review, Global Society, International Journal, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Problems of Post-Communism and Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. He recently edited the book International Politics in Times of Change (Springer, 2012).