Batman Saves the Congo

Alexandra Cosima Budabin is senior researcher at the Human Rights Center, University of Dayton, and contract professor in the Programme in Media, Communication, and Culture at the Free University of Bolzano. Lisa Ann Richey is professor of globalization at Copenhagen Business School. She is coauthor of Brand Aid: Shopping Well to Save the World (Minnesota, 2011) and editor of Celebrity Humanitarianism and North–South Relations: Politics, Place, and Power.

"This is an exciting, original, and fascinating book. It’s important not just for what it reveals-the Janus-faced, contradiction-laden nature of celebrity development politics-but for how this work was done. Batman Saves the Congo sets the standard for following high-profile development interventions from the privileged boardrooms where they are conceived to the coffee fields they seek to support. It’s a triumph."-Dan Brockington, author of Celebrity Advocacy and International Development"This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to current debates on celebrity activism in the humanitarian sector. Using Ben Affleck’s intervention in the Congo, the book offers a razor-sharp analysis of the inner workings of celebrity strategic partnerships as a new entrepreneurial model of aid. More than this, it develops an important criticism of humanitarianism and its entanglement with corporate and entertainment logics that, despite good intentions, work to hide colonial legacies behind the glamour of celebrity stardom."-Lilie Chouliaraki, author of The Ironic Spectator: Solidarity in the Age of Post-Humanitarianism   "Thoroughly researched and often laugh-out-loud funny, Batman Saves the Congo is a critically important look at a growing and under-examined - and frequently absurd - segment of the aid industry. "-The Washington Post   "This is a well-written, entertaining study that deserves a wide audience among readers interested in celebrity humanitarianism and the international politics of development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."-CHOICE   "The book Batman Saves the Congo is deeply researched, utilises a brilliant mix of methods of inquiry, and exposes a complex web of actors engaged in development efforts in the Congo."-Journal of Humanitarian Affairs   "[Budabin and Richey] combine ethnography, political economy, and narrative analysis to push the knowledge of celebrity humanitarianism beyond media space and donor activities. "-African Studies Quarterly   "For students of celebrity influence, these authors bring a greater understanding of process to a field that has produced much scholarship identifying and demonstrating the power of celebrity... For Africa scholars, Budabin and Richey spotlight an emergent pattern in development politics."-Canadian Journal of African Studies   "Budabin and Richey’s meticulous research clearly illustrates the limits of these forms of market-based solutions. The book’s conclusion provides an excellent summary of the limits of celebrity humanitarianism and the notion of disruption more generally."-Economic Geography   "The style of Batman Saves the Congo makes it accessible not only to academics and practitioners of international development, but also to the general public... This book is a valuable contribution to the complex issue of celebrity involvement in international development."-Potentia: Journal of International Affairs

• ContentsAbbreviationsIntroduction: Batman Saves the Congo1. Celebrity, Disruption and Neoliberal Development2. Narrating the Congo: Dangerous Single Stories and the Organizations that Need Them3. Choosing the Congo: How a Celebrity Builds a Development Organization4. Marketing the Congo: Products that Sell Development5. Saving Congolese Coffee: Celebrities and the Business Model for Development6. Celebrities and the Local Politics of Development: As Seen from Kinshasa7. Conclusions on Celebrity and Development: Disruption, Advocacy and CommodificationEpilogue: COVID-19 and Making ECI Relevant AgainAcknowledgmentsAppendix A. Methodology and Data CollectionAppendix B. Affleck, ECI, and ECI Partner's Interactions with Congress, 2011–2017Appendix C. K&L Gates Lobbying on Behalf of Eastern Congo InitiativeNotesBibliographyIndex