Performance in a Militarized Culture

The long cultural moment which arose in the wake of 9/11 and the conflict in the Middle East has fostered a global wave of surveillance and counterinsurgency. Performance in a Militarized Culture explores the ways in which we experience this new status quo. Addressing the most commonplace of everyday interactions, from mobile phonecalls to traffic cameras, this edited collection considers:

• How militarization appropriates and deploys performance techniques
• How performing arts practices can confront militarization
• The long and complex history of militarization
• How the war on terror has transformed into a values system that prioritises the military
• The ways in which performance can be used to secure and maintain power across social strata

Performance in a Militarized Culture draws on performances from North, Central, and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to chronicle a range of experience: from those who live under a daily threat of terrorism, to others who live with a distant, imagined fear of such danger.

Sara Brady is Assistant Professor at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY).

Lindsey Mantoan is a Fellow in Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric.