Street Art of Resistance

This book explores how street art has been used as a tool of resistance to express opposition to political systems and social issues around the world. Aesthetic devices such as murals, tags, posters, street performances and caricatures are discussed in terms of how they are employed to occupy urban spaces and present alternative visions of social reality. Based on empirical research, the authors use the framework of creative psychology to explore the aesthetic dimensions of resistance that can be found in graffiti, art, music, poetry and other creative cultural forms. Chapters include case studies from countries including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico and Spain to shed new light on the social, cultural and political dynamics of street art not only locally, but globally. This innovative collection will be of particular interest to scholars of social and political psychology, urban studies and the wider sociologies and is essential reading for all those interested in the role of art in social change.

Sarah H. Awad is Fellow at the Centre for Cultural Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. Her research interests lie in the interrelation between the fields of cultural psychology, communication, and social development, and the processes by which individuals develop through times of rupture and social change using signs to reconfigure their realities.

Brady Wagoner is Professor of Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. His publications span a wide range of topics, including the history of psychology, cultural psychology, remembering, imagination, creativity and social change. He is associate editor of Culture and Psychology and Peace and Conflict, co-founding editor of Psychology and Society and is on the editorial boards of several other journals.