ABSTRACT

This chapter examines Muhammad Yunus as an aid celebrity from the Global South. Yunus is the founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which pioneered giving small loans to poor women so that they could start their own micro-businesses. The chapter argues that Yunus' success is partly based on his ability to present an affective persona and to effectively manage the sentiments of his global audience. It situates Yunus' work with Grameen within his personal history that is firmly located in Bangladesh. The chapter presents Yunus as a self-declared champion of the poor, whom he variously characterizes as bonsai people and natural entrepreneurs. Most importantly, through his work with Grameen he has become a voice for poor women in Bangladesh and beyond, narrating their difficult lives and salvation by microcredit. The chapter explores the limits of his aid celebrity status, manifest in his fall from grace in Bangladesh and the increasing criticism of micro-debt.