Abstract
This research investigates celebrity politics in Australia’s local government by examining an inaugural short directly elected mayoral (DEM) model experiment undertaken in Geelong, the second-largest city in the federated state of Victoria, Australia, which elicited two celebrity mayors and created political conflict and a crisis. The single case study is undertaken by a participant-observer-researcher who has utilised their prior occupational participation in Geelong’s government and business community to establish a type of opportunistic complete member researcher (OCMR) status, drawn from a range of research work developed over the last thirty years. This unique OCMR status has created reflexive participant observation insights into an Australian local government DEM model experiment, which is melded with a longitudinal, narrative, descriptive and archival research design methodological approach to elucidate how celebrity contributed to the political conflicts that arose during the experiment. With the increased likelihood that DEM models are more susceptible than other government systems to attracting and creating celebrities, this research seeks to understand what can be learned from the Geelong experiment. The case study builds a foundation by amalgamating celebrity politics and local government literature to inform the debate on DEM models, DEMs and directly elected celebrity mayors (DECMs) and reveals how celebrity and political conflicts contributed to the crisis that ultimately reversed the experiment. It includes timely insights into micro and macro governance structures, political and economic circumstances, councillor cooperation, local government administration and how DECMs align the divergent requirements of politics and celebrity. The case study also offers advice on how future DECMs with no previous local government experience or understanding can be better supported to learn how local government works and minimise political conflict.
Original language | English |
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Pages | 178 |
Number of pages | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Event | 5th International Celebrity Studies Conference 2024: Celebrity Crises and Conflicts - University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 01 Jul 2024 → 03 Jul 2024 https://celebritystudiesconference.com/ |
Conference
Conference | 5th International Celebrity Studies Conference 2024 |
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Country/Territory | Netherlands |
City | Amsterdam |
Period | 01/07/24 → 03/07/24 |
Other | Routledge, Celebrity Studies Journal, and the University of Amsterdam are pleased to announce the fifth Celebrity Studies conference. The conference will take place in Amsterdam, July 1st to 3rd. The 5th International Celebrity Studies Conference will be themed ‘Celebrity Crises and Conflicts’. This subject will run through our plenaries and form a strand running throughout the conference. Fame is fickle, as the saying goes, but in current times, celebrity appears to be more in crisis than ever. The #MeToo movement has brought to light disturbing facts about the reality behind the celebrity façade. The conspicuous consumption associated with stardom is attracting increasing criticisms in an era of pandemic lockdown, austerity, and environmental crisis. Developments in artificial intelligence are feeding an existential crisis of celebrity, too: is stardom now becoming a post-human phenomenon? Additionally, geopolitical conflicts, as well as polarizing debates on class, race and gender differences, have put stars under increased political pressures, and have resulted in vicious attacks on – and by – celebrities. Finally, more and more public figures are opening up about their mental health crises, raising awareness about the negative effects of fame – burn-out, depression, anxiety, the impact of hate speech, fat-shaming, or performance pressure. Together, these developments raise urgent questions about the current and past status of celebrity, such as: what do celebrity crises and conflicts tell us about the social, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of stardom? What can we learn about current, as well as historical, celebrity crises and conflicts? What impacts do they have on the study of celebrity as an academic endeavor? The conference welcomes submissions from a broad range of disciplines that generate new ways of thinking and understanding celebrity: from film, television, literary, digital media, (art) history and theatre studies through to psychology, sociology, politics, etc. |
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