–The following story was written by Taia Goguen-Garner
Celebrity philanthropy is something we constantly hear about. Often when we think about this type of charity work, our minds ultimately lead us to Africa or some other continent in the world.
Although charity work has underlying good intentions, what if celebrity philanthropy perpetuates the wrong ideas of Africa and fails to recognize and aid in the root issues of inequalities in Africa?
Barbra Chimhandamba, a PhD student in Political Science has been looking at celebrity humanitarianism, specifically celebrity initiatives in South Africa. Her research raises questions about social, political and economic implications of celebrity philanthropy on the continent, as well as how these celebrity discourses and practices perpetuate the concept of “Africa” as a helpless continent.
“Through their humanitarian work, celebrities portray international development as the necessary and inevitable answer to the poverty, conflict and disease that plague many countries in Africa,” explains Chimhandamba. “Their activities, however, raise serious questions about accountability and representation in developing global social policy, as well as efficacy and motivation.”
To conduct her research, Chimhandamba is doing a case study that looks at the South African chapter of the One Campaign. One Campaign is a non-profit organization, which fights poverty and preventable diseases in Africa. She is also conducting interviews and using participant observation.
Chimhandamba first got interested in this type of research while working as a Foreign Service Officer in Zimbabwe. In that capacity, she was able to come in direct contact with a lot of foreign aid organizations that wanted to work in the country.
“The interactions I had with some of those organizations and their recipients influenced the way I see the whole aid industry,” shared Chimhandamba. “So, yes, I can say that my previous work was instrumental in getting me interested in the research that I am doing.”
The PhD student argues that that celebrity humanitarianism leaves structural injustice unaddressed, unrecognized, unanalyzed, and ultimately misunderstood. Chimhandamba argues that charity work is entwined with capitalism by and largely advances it. Yet celebrities do not acknowledge that it is the very capitalism that their work is immersed in which is responsible for the inequalities they themselves are trying to alleviate through their philanthropy work.
“While there is no doubt that celebrity philanthropy does some good, and makes a difference by relieving suffering in the areas where celebrity humanitarian projects are implemented, when one looks at the bigger picture, I do not think that philanthropy is beneficial to developing countries in the long term. On the contrary, in my view, philanthropy does little to enhance development. Rather, it serves to reinforce relations of dominance between the West and Africa, and perpetuates inequalities by increasingly positioning the individual as the solution to social ills, while the state is being scaled back.”
Dr. Fiona Robinson, an expert in international relations and ethics of care has been supervising Chimhandamba throughout her research process. The doctoral student credits Dr. Robinson as going beyond the call of duty to assist her in her research.
Chimhandamba is also the recipient of the Dr. Kenneth McRae Scholarship, the Ontario Trillium Scholarship as well as an International Doctoral Excellence award.
She is continuing her work looking at celebrity humanitarianism and hopes to conduct more fieldwork research.
To find out more about the doctoral program in Political Science, please click here.
Friday, May 31, 2019 in Grad Student Research, News
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