Performance, Politics, and the War on Terror: 'Whatever it Takes'

Performance, Politics, and the War on Terror takes a performance studies lens to analyze a variety of events in order to tease out the ways in which meaning has been made in the contemporary global sociopolitical environment. By discussing events in such diverse contexts as conventional theatre, political protest, popular entertainments, military training exercises, performance art, and other sites of performance, the book offers a unique, interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture and politics. It argues that the reliance on performance by governments and media alike in post-9/11 United States and abroad-particularly in the context of the war on terror-led not only to a culture of fear, but also to a troubling blurring of fiction and reality.