Batman Saves the Congo: How Celebrities Disrupt the Politics of Development

Over the summer, CBDS Professor Lisa Ann Richey and her co-author Alexandra Budabin, the driving forces behind the recent book "Batman Saves the Congo: How Celebrities Disrupt the Politics of Development", have both been featured with their book in a Colloquium and had their book reviewed by the Washington Post.

About the book: How are celebrity strategic partnerships disrupting humanitarian space? Can a celebrity be a “disrupter,” promoting strategic partnerships to foster ideas and funding to revitalize the development field—or are they just charismatic ambassadors for big business? Examining the role of the rich and famous in development and humanitarianism, this book argues that celebrities do both, and that understanding why and how yields insight into the realities of neoliberal development.