The rise to prominence of celebrity culture is a key feature of our times. Mass audiences are exposed to photographic and textual projections of celebrities going about their everyday lives and engaging in humanitarian endeavours. As humanitarians and diplomats celebrities are granted unique opportunities to shape the direction of the global ethical agenda and also determine who is to benefit from their activism.
Such narratives frequently constitute women celebrities, who are wedded to the welfare and happiness of their own children and those of other nations, within the language of maternal care. Angelina Jolie not only is the mother of her own family, composed of biological and adopted children, but also a carer for all the children of the world.
In this chapter Annika Bergman Rosamond expands upon her research on global motherhood by zooming in on the refugee activism pursued by Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett. In so doing Bergman Rosamond seeks to understand the ethical underpinnings of women celebrities’ global undertakings.
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