ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the deeper ways in which celebrity activism can be very closely aligned with political and economic power by demonstrating the consistencies between some of the key instances of Western celebrity activism and the overarching political-economic doctrines that governed state policy at the time. It argues that distinctions are quite superficial, and demonstrates how throughout Bob Geldof’s career, his activism is very much consistent with the form of neoliberal governance that was dominant at the time. The chapter shows that after the 2008 financial crises, Geldof has aligned himself with a group of committed business leaders and activists who are working to reinvigorate the neoliberal project. Geldof himself derided the anti-G8 protestors as 'a bunch of losers'. In each phase of Geldof's political career, he has been represented as a 'punk' outsider to authority who dismisses the protocols of diplomacy in an effort to get things done.
