Noe, Christine2016-04-222016-04-222011-11-03Noe, C., 2011. Celebrity and the environment: fame, wealth and power in conservation. South African Geographical Journal, 93(2), pp.213-214.http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1625Full text can be accessed at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03736245.2011.627996Celebrity and the Environment is among the first major works that give a critical analysis of political ecology of the celebrity industry. Drawing on a thorough media research and extensive readings, the book takes a critical stance on the role of fame industry in shaping global environmental politics. The main issue of this book is not only the identification of how fame, wealth and power works to influence environmental movement but also what celebrity conservationism might signify. On this, Brockington argues that celebrity is an art, and the rules for its production can be taught. Meanwhile, biological nature that celebrity seeks to conserve is a social construct. Humans are central to both nature construction and they are also part of it, a point reinforced through the exclusion of humans from nature by other humans in the process of producing images of nature congenial to human consumption. The book therefore answers important questions of how and why celebrity is brought into conservation to pursue certain agendas. These questions are pertinent because conservation agendas are not given but are instead created by people on behalf of nature. So, in whose image and interest are conservation agendas pursued? Who wins, who loses from celebrity’s support for conservation causes? In answering these questions, the book provides counter-narratives to common explanations of environmental causes such as the noble goal of saving the planet from global warming and loss of biodiversity. In this way, Brockington aligns his work with critical scholarship that seeks to provide nuanced perspectives on the relationship between nature and society under capitalismenCelebrityEnvironmentFameWealthConservationBook chapter10.1080/03736245.2011.627996