Acts of Activism

Human Rights as Radical Performance

D. Soyini Madison (Northwestern University, Illinois)

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Hardback

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English

Cambridge University Press
14 January 2010

Theatre Studies; Theatre direction & production; Street theatre; Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Literature: history & criticism; Sociology: sport & leisure

Series: Theatre and Performance Theory

This book was first published in 2010. Madison presents the neglected yet compelling and necessary story of local activists in South Saharan Africa who employ modes of performance as tactics of resistance and intervention in their day-to-day struggles for human rights. The dynamic relationship between performance and activism are illustrated in three case studies: Act One presents a battle between tradition and modernity as the bodies of African women are caught in the cross-fire. Act Two focuses on 'water democracy' as activists fight for safe, accessible public water as a human right. Act Three examines the efficacy of street performance and theatre for development in the oral histories of Ghanaian gender activists. Unique to this book is the continuing juxtaposition between the everyday performances of local activism and their staged enactments before theatre audiences in Ghana and the USA. Madison beautifully demonstrates how these disparate sites of performance cohere in the service of rights, justice, and activism.

By: D. Soyini Madison (Northwestern University Illinois)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 640g
ISBN: 9780521519229
ISBN 10: 0521519225
Series: Theatre and Performance Theory
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 14 January 2010
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Act I. Is it a human being or a girl?; Act II. Water rites/rights; Act III. Acts of activism; Epilogue; Appendices: Scripts: Appendix 1. Is it a human being or a girl?; Appendix 2. Water rites; Bibliography; Index.

D. Soyini Madison is Professor of Performance Studies and Anthropology at Northwestern University.

Reviews for Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance

'If this world is badly broken, Acts of Activism provides some powerfully subtle ways in which everyday humans might hope to mend it. This book transports you to small spectacles of dumbfounding damage then sifts their routine horrors to release whisperings that heal. Unassumingly rigorous, accessibly written, profoundly practical, these Acts of Activism are seductively set to inspire a radical intelligence of feeling that could well bring about change, perhaps to what matters most: that murmuring in our hearts.' Baz Kershaw, Professor of Performance, University of Warwick