Celebrities, Bombs, and Mines

When I hear the words "celebrity activism" the first things that come to mind are Bono, Live Aid, and Angelina Jolie and the various issues surrounding these people and events. One could spend years studying why celebrities are fond of certain issues and not of others. Whatever the results of that study, right now it can be said that cluster bombs are not a particularly hot celebrity issue.

A search of LexisNexis Academic, Google, and JSTOR all reveal limited attention to the topic by celebrities. The topic seems to receive the most attention in the UK, with a mentionSir Paul McCartney leading a contingent of celebrities, including KT Tunstall, Emma Thompson, and a host of names whom I presume don't jump off the screen to anyone who isn't a frequent viewer of BBC programing, in signing a petition by UK based charity "No More Landmines." McCartney also auctioned off an amp to raise money for the charity*.

Adopt-A-Minefield is another organization associated with the issue of land mines and clearing land mines. In a Journal of Mine Action article discussing de-mining efforts in Afghanistan, it is made clear that de-mining also includes the removal of undetonated cluster bomblets. Further along in the same article, reference is made to Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones raising awareness of and funds for the organization.

Interestingly, Princess Diana's legacy has been used in reference to the issue of cluster bombs**, particularly to raise awareness of the issue in Britain. Lady Diana brought attention to the effects of and the efforts to ban land mines in the 1990s, and for many, cluster bombs are very weapons in the same vein as land mines, and the effort to ban them has been spearheaded by many of the same organizations which lead the effort to ban land mines.

It is possible that most of the celebrity involvement with the cluster munition issue is in fact through organizations which are involved in land mine removal or were involved in the campaign to ban landmines.

Did celebrities have an impact on the campaign to ban cluster munitions? Directly, it wouldn't seem so. However, celebrity involvement in the campaign to ban land mines may have impacted that campaign. If this impact was positive, it is arguable that celebrity activism on the land mine issue, laid some of the ground work for issue adoption and advocacy in cluster munition campaign.

*"IN BRIEF: Charity amp." Daily Post (Liverpool). 30 June 2008: News Pg. 2 Online. Lexis-Nexis Major U.S. and World Publications. 22 Sept. 2008
**"ANALYSIS: Hard fought landmine victory faces new threat." Birmingham Post. 19 Sept. 2007: News Pg. 11 Online. Lexis-Nexis Major U.S. and World Publications. 22 Sept. 2008