The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power) (Counterblasts)

The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power) (Counterblasts)

by HarryBrowne (Author)

Synopsis

Celebrity philanthropy comes in many guises, but no single figure better encapsulates its delusions, pretensions and wrongheadedness than U2's iconic frontman, Bono - a fact neither sunglasses nor leather pants can hide. More than a mere philanthropist - indeed, he lags behind many of his peers when it comes to parting with his own money - Bono is better described as an advocate, one who has become an unwitting symbol of a complacent wealthy Western elite. The Frontman reveals how Bono moved his investments to Amsterdam to avoid Irish taxes; his paternalistic and often bullying advocacy of neoliberal solutions in Africa; his multinational business interests; and his hobnobbing with Paul Wolfowitz and shock-doctrine economist Jeffrey Sachs. Carefully dissecting the rhetoric and actions of Bono the political operator, The Frontman shows him to be an ambassador for imperial exploitation, a man who has turned his attention to a world of savage injustice, inequality and exploitation - and helped make it worse.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 176
Edition: 1
Publisher: Verso Books
Published: 01 Jun 2013

ISBN 10: 1781680825
ISBN 13: 9781781680827

Media Reviews
I genuinely see myself as a traveling salesman. I think that's what I do. I sell songs door-to-door on tour. I sell ideas like debt relief, and like all salesmen, I'm a bit of an opportunist and I see Africa as great opportunity. Bono At last! A bracing take-no-prisoners polemic that acknowledges Bono's practical contributions to a more humane version of global capitalism, but demonstrates how good intentions can be no alibi for fronting for the status quo. - ALEX DE WAAL, author of Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa and Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School
Author Bio
HARRY BROWNE is a Lecturer in the School of Media at the Dublin Institute of Technology as well as an activist and journalist who has written for the Irish Times, Sunday Times, Irish Daily Mail, Evening Herald, Sunday Tribune and Counterpunch. He is the author of Hammered by the Irish: How the Pitstop Ploughshares Disabled a U.S. War Plane - With Ireland's Blessing.