Afropolitanism’ has become a disputed term referring to diverse engagements by Africans who are typically members of the cultural elite and participate in diaspora politics, online activism, fashion and literature debates. Simultaneously, in discussions of development aid, celebrity has become a way of mediating between proximity and distance in imagining relationships between South and North. Afropolitanism can be usefully considered as an Africa-specific, post-colonial form of cosmopolitanism that spans discourses of elite pan-African culture to theories of elite global aid culture. We argue that there are essential connections between the rise of Afropolitanism and the celebritization of North-South relations. In this realm, “Afropolitanism” is an idea combining cosmopolitanism’s notions of kindness to strangers in a world where the ‘kindness’ is aid and the ‘strangers’ are Africans. We analyse two archetypical Afropolitan performances by Danish aid celebrities to argue that their representations of Africa’s external relations are theoretically more interesting, and politically more dangerous, than is currently understood. In doing so, we expand the debates around Afropolitanism and celebritization from the realm of cultural politics to one of International Relations. In discussions of African cultural politics, a new label of ‘Afropolitan’ refers to various engagements by people with African heritage who are typically members of the cultural elite, and participate in diaspora politics, online activism, fashion and literature debates. Afropolitanism works as a marker for transnational, post-colonial identity trying to rehabilitate Africa’s image and act as an antidote to Afro-pessimism. Yet while Afropolitan may be one of the ‘ideas of the decade,’ its critics are sharp: ‘“Afropolitan” is not a politics, but it dresses in the commodified residue of political struggle, Fela Kuti’s style stripped of its revolutionary substance.’1 Simultaneously, in discussions of development aid and humanitarianism, celebrity has become a way of mediating between proximity and distance in imagining relationships between South and North. The ‘public faces of development’ of celebrities make aid seem simultaneously easily engaged by citizens in the North and ethically good for people in the South.2 Critics of celebrity humanitarianism criticize the ‘amateur expert’ status of celebrities in North-South relations, and reject celebrities’ use of * Lisa Ann Richey (richey@ruc.dk) is Professor of International Development Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark and Visiting Professor at Duke University, U.S. Lene Bull Christiansen (bull@ruc.dk) is Associate Professor at Roskilde University, Denmark. 1 Aaron Bady, “‘Afropolitan”’, State of the Discipline Report, April 2014, (1 February 2016). 2 Matt Smith and Helen Yanacopulos, 'The public faces of development: An introduction', Journal of International Development 16, 5 (2004), pp. 657–664. Cite as: Lisa Ann Richey, Lene Bull Christiansen; Afropolitanism, celebrity politics, and iconic imaginations of north–south relations, African Affairs, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/ady004 2 advocacy as a corporate ‘branding’ exercise with negative implications for democracy and participation.3 This article argues that there are essential connections between the rise of Afropolitanism and the celebritization of North-South relations. As aid becomes more celebritized, opportunities open for Afropolitians to present the public faces of North-South relations. These Afropolitans perform an embodied cosmopolitanism centring on Africa. Analysing these connections can lead to a greater understanding of Africa’s external politics and an evaluation of the possibilities offered by cosmopolitanism for grounding North-South relations. To understand this unique intersection, we develop a two-pronged analytical framework: Afropolitanism and celebritization. We begin with the emerging concept of “Afropolitanism” and its theoretical foundation in cosmopolitanism. Then we explain the celebritization of North-South relations and its representational politics of the iconic celebrity. Using these multi-disciplinary literatures, we analyse two archetypical Afropolitan performances of aid celebrity in Denmark to argue that their representations of Africa’s external relations are theoretically more interesting, and politically more dangerous, than is currently understood. We expand the debates around Afropolitanism and celebritization from the realm of cultural politics to one of International Relations. Our case study suggests significant limitations of cosmopolitanism for grounding political struggles in these contested contexts. Afropolitan engagements in North-South relations provide a unique opportunity to understand the potential and limitations of post-colonial cosmopolitanism. The potential of Afropolitanism lies in the subtle shaping of local citizens’ aspirations based on cosmopolitan ideals which manifest themselves through what Vivienne Jabri characterizes as space for ‘solidarity’ on the basis of the ‘assertion of presence’.4 The limitation of these cosmopolitan ideals is their reliance on local values for traction. Thus, as imaginations of North-South relations become celebritized and articulated in “Afropolitan” terms, they call forth a particular kind of politics. This politics is ideally linked to Kwame Anthony Appiah’s ‘ethics in a world of strangers,’5 yet in practice relies on elite performances of provincialism and has little to do with Africanizing mutual obligations across borders. Methodology and case selection 3 Lisa Ann Richey (ed.), Celebrity humanitarianism and north-south relations: Politics, place and power (Routledge, London and New York, NY, 2016); Dan Brockington, Celebrity advocacy and international development (Routledge, London and New York, NY, 2014); Maxwell T. Boykoff and Michael K. Goodman, 'Conspicuous redemption? Reflections on the promises and perils of the “Celebritization” of climate change', Geoforum 40, 3 (2009), pp. 395 – 406; Jo Littler, '“I feel your pain”: Cosmopolitan charity and the public fashioning of the celebrity soul', Social Semiotics 18, 2 (2008), pp. 237–251; Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte, Brand aid: Shopping well to save the world (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2011); Mark Wheeler, Celebrity politics (Polity, Cambridge, 2013). 4 Vivienne Jabri, ‘Cosmopolitan politics, security, political subjectivity’, European Journal of International Relations 18, 4 (2011), pg.11. 5 Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers (W. W. Norton & Company, New

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非洲政治、名人政治和南北关系的标志性想象

Afropolitanism' 已成为一个有争议的术语，指的是非洲人的各种参与，这些人通常是文化精英的成员，并参与侨民政治、在线激进主义、时尚和文学辩论。同时，在发展援助的讨论中，名人已经成为一种在想象南北关系时在接近和距离之间进行调解的方式。Afropolitanism 可以有效地被视为一种非洲特有的、后殖民形式的世界主义，它跨越精英泛非文化的话语到精英全球援助文化的理论。我们认为，非洲政治的兴起与南北关系的名人化之间存在着重要的联系。在这个领域，“Afropolitanism”是一种结合了世界主义对陌生人的善意概念的想法，在这个“善意”是援助而“陌生人”是非洲人的世界中。我们分析了丹麦援助名人的两个典型的非洲城市表演，以论证他们对非洲对外关系的表现在理论上比目前理解的更有趣，在政治上更危险。在这样做的过程中，我们将围绕 Afropolitanism 和名人化的辩论从文化政治领域扩展到国际关系领域。在讨论非洲文化政治时，“Afropolitan”的新标签指的是具有非洲血统的人的各种参与，他们通常是文化精英的成员，并参与侨民政治、在线激进主义、时尚和文学辩论。非洲政治作为跨国、后殖民身份的标志，试图恢复非洲的形象，并作为非洲悲观主义的解毒剂。然而，尽管 Afropolitan 可能是“这十年的思想”之一，但它的批评者却很尖锐：“Afropolitan 不是政治，但它穿着政治斗争的商品化残留物，Fela Kuti 的风格剥夺了其革命性的实质。” 1 同时，在发展援助和人道主义的讨论中，名人已成为一种在想象南北关系时在接近和距离之间进行调解的方式。名人的“发展的公众面孔”使北方的公民似乎很容易参与援助，而在道德上对南方的人民有益。2 名人人道主义批评家批评名人在南北关系中的“业余专家”地位，拒绝名人使用* Lisa Ann Richey (richey@ruc.dk) 是丹麦罗斯基勒大学国际发展研究教授和访问学者美国杜克大学教授 Lene Bull Christiansen (bull@ruc.dk) 是丹麦罗斯基勒大学的副教授。1 Aaron Bady，“'Afropolitan”'，纪律状况报告，2014 年 4 月，（2016 年 2 月 1 日）。2 马特史密斯和海伦亚纳科普洛斯，“发展的公众面孔：介绍”，国际发展杂志 16, 5 (2004)，第 657–664 页。引用为：Lisa Ann Richey、Lene Bull Christiansen；非洲政治、名人政治和南北关系的标志性想象，非洲事务，https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/ady004 2 宣传作为企业“品牌”活动，对民主和参与有负面影响。3 本文认为非洲政治的兴起与南北关系的名人化之间存在着重要的联系。随着援助变得更加著名，非洲人有机会展示南北关系的公众形象。这些非洲人表现出以非洲为中心的具身性的世界主义。分析这些联系可以加深对非洲外部政治的了解，并评估世界主义为建立南北关系提供的可能性。为了理解这个独特的交叉点，我们开发了一个两管齐下的分析框架：Afropolitanism 和名人化。我们从新兴的“Afropolitanism”概念及其在世界主义中的理论基础开始。然后我们解释了南北关系的名人化及其标志性名人的代表性政治。使用这些多学科文献，我们分析了丹麦援助名人的两个典型的非洲城市表演，以论证他们对非洲对外关系的表现在理论上比目前理解的更有趣，在政治上更危险。我们将围绕 Afropolitanism 和名人化的辩论从文化政治领域扩展到国际关系领域。我们的案例研究表明，世界主义在这些有争议的背景下为政治斗争奠定基础的重大局限性。非洲人在南北关系中的参与提供了一个独特的机会来了解后殖民世界主义的潜力和局限性。Afropolitanism 的潜力在于以世界主义理想为基础对当地公民的愿望进行微妙的塑造，这些理想通过 Vivienne Jabri 所描述的基于“在场主张”的“团结”空间来体现。 4 这些世界主义理想的局限性是他们对牵引力的当地价值观的依赖。因此，随着对南北关系的想象变得广为人知并以“非洲城市”的方式表达出来，它们唤起了一种特殊的政治。这种政治理想地与夸梅·安东尼·阿皮亚 (Kwame Anthony Appiah) 的“陌生人世界中的伦理学”5 联系在一起，但实际上依赖于地方主义的精英表现，与非洲化跨境相互义务几乎没有关系。方法论和案例选择 3 Lisa Ann Richey（编辑），名人人道主义和南北关系：政治、地点和权力（Routledge，伦敦和纽约，纽约，2016 年）；Dan Brockington，名人宣传和国际发展（Routledge，伦敦和纽约，纽约，2014 年）；Maxwell T. Boykoff 和 Michael K. Goodman，“显眼的救赎？对气候变化“名人化”的承诺和危险的思考，Geoforum 40, 3 (2009), pp. 395 – 406；Jo Littler，“我感受到你的痛苦”：世界性慈善和名人灵魂的公开塑造，社会符号学 18, 2 (2008)，第 237-251 页；Lisa Ann Richey 和 Stefano Ponte，品牌援助：购物好拯救世界（明尼苏达大学出版社，明尼阿波利斯，2011 年）；马克惠勒，名人政治（政治，剑桥，2013 年）。4 Vivienne Jabri，“世界政治、安全、政治主体性”，欧洲国际关系杂志 18、4（2011），第 11 页。5 Kwame Anthony Appiah，世界主义：陌生人世界中的伦理（WW Norton & Company，New 购物好拯救世界（明尼苏达大学出版社，明尼阿波利斯，2011 年）；马克惠勒，名人政治（政治，剑桥，2013 年）。4 Vivienne Jabri，“世界政治、安全、政治主体性”，欧洲国际关系杂志 18、4（2011），第 11 页。5 Kwame Anthony Appiah，世界主义：陌生人世界中的伦理（WW Norton & Company，New 购物好拯救世界（明尼苏达大学出版社，明尼阿波利斯，2011 年）；马克惠勒，名人政治（政治，剑桥，2013 年）。4 Vivienne Jabri，“世界政治、安全、政治主体性”，欧洲国际关系杂志 18、4（2011），第 11 页。5 Kwame Anthony Appiah，世界主义：陌生人世界中的伦理（WW Norton & Company，New