This book re-evaluates the role of performance in global politics in the face of populism and the digital mediatisation of political interactions. As political communications are increasingly conducted in online environments,'post-truth' performances become evermore central to democratic processes. It is therefore essential to reconsider the political potency of performance and theatricality in order to effectively reinvigorate democracy in the 21st century. Drawing on applied theatre practices, this book shows that performance is inherently concerned with cooperative and collaborative encounters across difference, and performance might therefore support effective responses to digital populism. The analysis addresses the performative aspects of populist political movements in the United States and United Kingdom. The chapters engage with aspects of performance and theatricality not commonly broached in IR scholarship, including interpersonal engagement, creative embodiment and interactive affect, making the case for the importance of these features to democratic engagement. This book resonates with recent debates regarding the relevance and treatment of Arts and Performance as IR subjects, methodologies and practices, and will be of interest to scholars and students of global politics, international relations, performance studies, radical democracy, and mass communication and culture.

This book re-evaluates the role of performance in global politics in the face of populism and the digital mediatisation of political interactions. As political communications are increasingly conducted in online environments,'post-truth' performances become evermore central to democratic processes. It is therefore essential to reconsider the political potency of performance and theatricality in order to effectively reinvigorate democracy in the 21st century. Drawing on applied theatre practices, this book shows that performance is inherently concerned with cooperative and collaborative encounters across difference, and performance might therefore support effective responses to digital populism. The analysis addresses the performative aspects of populist political movements in the United States and United Kingdom. The chapters engage with aspects of performance and theatricality not commonly broached in IR scholarship, including interpersonal engagement, creative embodiment and interactive affect, making the case for the importance of these features to democratic engagement. This book resonates with recent debates regarding the relevance and treatment of Arts and Performance as IR subjects, methodologies and practices, and will be of interest to scholars and students of global politics, international relations, performance studies, radical democracy, and mass communication and culture.

This book offers a study of post-9/11 anti-war organizations in the United States and their role in domestic foreign policy debates.

The moment of the 9/11 terrorist attacks has been much cited in political and cultural scholarship and much attention has been paid to the promotion of "War on Terror" policies. The social mechanisms behind the circumscription and regulation of national ideals attracted critical analyses from scholars across disciplines; yet the prevalence of scholarly concern with the negative political devices of the Bush Administration at times seemed to risk reproducing the hierarchies of power that underpinned the very issue of concern, and even the War on Terror itself.

By contrast, this book celebrates the political acts of individuals committed to changing the dominant politics of the Bush era. Drawing on participant observation and interviews with the leaders of prominent anti-war organizations including Code Pink and Iraq Veterans Against the War, the book employs Performance Theory to evaluate the capacity of protest to effect lasting social change. In addition to highlighting an often overlooked aspect of foreign policy formation, this volume demonstrates that Performance Studies can be used as innovative approach to Politics and IR.

This book will be of much interest to students of US politics and foreign policy, theatre studies, cultural studies, and critical security and international relations.