By way of introduction -- Part I. Performance leaves the theatre and joins the revolution. Ritual, theatre, activism -- Agit-Prop -- Improvisation -- Psychodrama and sociodrama -- Happenings, be-ins, and flash mobs -- Performance art -- Avant-garde theatre -- Performativity and the sixties -- Part II. (Some of) What performance activism does. Educating -- Politicizing -- Building bridges -- Creating community conversations -- Healing trauma -- Reinitiating creativity -- Building community -- Part III. Re-performing the world. Performance as a way of life -- Community organizing as performance -- Ontology, community, sustainability.

"This is the first book length study of performance activism. While Performance Studies recognizes the universality of human performance in daily life, what is specifically under investigation here is performance as an activity intentionally entered into as a means of engaging social issues and conflicts, that is, as an ensemble activity by which we re-construct/transform social reality. Performance Activism: Precursors and Contemporary Pioneers provides a global overview of the growing interface of performance with education, therapy, conflict resolution, civic engagement, community development and social justice activism. It combines an historical study of the processes by which, over the course of the 20th Century, performance has been loosened from the institutional constraints of the theatre with a mosaic-like overview of the diverse work/play of contemporary performance activists around the world."-- Provided by publisher