Performance on Behalf of the Environment

Edited by Richard D. Besel and Jnan A. Blau - Contributions by Alison Bodkin; Jason Del Gandio; Julia Handschuh; Jess Larson; Theresa May; Leila Nadir; Cary Peppermint; Courtney Ryan; Ray Schultz; David Terry; Anne Marie Todd and Barbara Willard

Human degradation of the environment has been documented by scholars across a range of disciplines: the global temperature of the planet continues to rise, abandoned industrial sites stain once vibrant communities, and questions about the purity of our water and foods linger. In the shadow of these material conditions, concerned citizens have reacted by issuing critiques against careless consumerism and excessive lifestyles. Their hope is to illustrate and inspire alternative ways of living. As part of such efforts and activism, some have turned to performance as a means to investigate matters further, pose challenges and questions, and enact new ways of being and thinking in a globalized world. Performance on Behalf of the Environment is a collection of essays from a diverse group of scholars that explore critically the strengths, limitations, and processes of what can be termed environmental performances.

Lexington Books

Pages: 288 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-0-7391-7498-2 • Hardback • November 2013 • $133.00 • (£102.00)

978-0-7391-7499-9 • eBook • November 2013 • $126.00 • (£97.00)

Subjects: Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, Nature / General, Performing Arts / General, Social Science / General

Performance on Behalf of the Environment

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Human degradation of the environment has been documented by scholars across a range of disciplines: the global temperature of the planet continues to rise, abandoned industrial sites stain once vibrant communities, and questions about the purity of our water and foods linger. In the shadow of these material conditions, concerned citizens have reacted by issuing critiques against careless consumerism and excessive lifestyles. Their hope is to illustrate and inspire alternative ways of living. As part of such efforts and activism, some have turned to performance as a means to investigate matters further, pose challenges and questions, and enact new ways of being and thinking in a globalized world. Performance on Behalf of the Environment is a collection of essays from a diverse group of scholars that explore critically the strengths, limitations, and processes of what can be termed environmental performances.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 288 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-0-7391-7498-2 • Hardback • November 2013 • $133.00 • (£102.00)

978-0-7391-7499-9 • eBook • November 2013 • $126.00 • (£97.00)

Subjects: Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, Nature / General, Performing Arts / General, Social Science / General

Author

Richard D. Besel is an associate professor in the Communication Studies Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Jnan A. Blau is an associate professor in the Communication Studies Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: Performance on Behalf of the Environment
Jnan A. Blau and Richard D. Besel

PART I: PERFORMERS AND AUDIENCES

Chapter 2: It’s a Party, Not a Protest: Environmental Community, Co-Incident Performance, and the San José Bike Party
David Terry and Anne Marie Todd

Chapter 3: Performing Nonhuman Liberation: How the ALF and ELF Rupture the Political Imagination
Jason Del Gandio

Chapter 4: Eco-Comedy Performance: An Alchemy of Environmentalism and Humor
Alison Bodkin

Chapter 5: Embodied Perspective by Incongruity: Environmental Critique in an Age of Performance
Richard D. Besel

PART II: PLACES AND SPACES

Chapter 6: Reinhabiting the Land: From Vacant Lot to Garden Plot
Barbara Willard

Chapter 7: “Progress Fell Upon Us”: Ecotourism, Culture, and Performance in the Peruvian Amazon
Jnan A. Blau

Chapter 8: “On Finding Ways of Being”: Kinesthetic Empathy in Dance and Ecology
Julia Handschuh

Chapter 9: Indeterminate Hikes+: Hiking Through the Urban Wilderness
Leila Nadir and Cary Peppermint

PART III: MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

Chapter 10: Indigenous Theatre in Global Times: Situated Knowledge and Ecological Communities in Salmon Is Everything and Burning Vision
Theresa May

Chapter 11: Staging Sustainable Shakespeare: “Greening” the Bard While Advancing Institutional Mission
Ray Schultz and Jess Larson

Chapter 12: Puppet Planets and Spirit Soldiers: Staging Ecological Representations in Baby Universe and Forgotten World
Courtney Ryan

Reviews

Brimming with vital insight and important questions, this volume stages productive and timely incursions into urgent discussions around performance and environmental stewardship.
— David Fancy, Brock University

Performance on Behalf of the Environment is a much needed collection exploring connections between performance and environmentalism. Drs. Besel and Blau have assembled a compelling and provocative group of essays, spanning a wide range of methodological and theoretical approaches, whose authors prompt us to carefully consider and critique the ways our performances affect our world.
— Amy Kilgard, San Francisco State University