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Challenging Structural Violence Through Community Drama: Exploring Theatre as Transformative Praxis

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Methodologies in Peace Psychology

Part of the book series: Peace Psychology Book Series ((PPBS,volume 26))

Abstract

In this chapter we examine community theatre as an example of arts practice that has gained significant interest as a form of social action in various social and health science disciplines. Community theatre is an umbrella term for forms of participatory theatre such as forum and playback theatre, which have the broad goal of challenging forms of structural violence through processes such as storytelling, active witnessing, and embodiment. In this chapter we discuss community theatre and highlight its use as a research methodology. We frame our discussion of community theatre with reference to arts-based research and performative social science, which challenge the singular master narrative underpinning traditional methodologies. We discuss community theatre in relation to participatory action research and argue that it provides unique tools for making visible the ways in which racism, sexism, and other forms of exclusion are produced, and it also opens up possibilities for new narratives to inform social identities. We illustrate these points using projects from two different countries—Melbourne, Australia, and Kingston, Jamaica—that have used theatre praxis to address forms of structural violence. We discuss community theatre as an ethical participatory approach that can contribute to the goals of peace psychology research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Arts, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

    Christopher Sonn, Karina Smith & Kirsten Meyer

Authors
  1. Christopher Sonn
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  2. Karina Smith
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  3. Kirsten Meyer
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Correspondence to Christopher Sonn .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Diane Bretherton

  2. Victoria University, Melbournne, Victoria, Australia

    Siew Fang Law

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Sonn, C., Smith, K., Meyer, K. (2015). Challenging Structural Violence Through Community Drama: Exploring Theatre as Transformative Praxis. In: Bretherton, D., Law, S. (eds) Methodologies in Peace Psychology. Peace Psychology Book Series, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18395-4_15

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