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RESPONDING TO RACIALIZATION THROUGH ARTS PRACTICE: THE CASE OF PARTICIPATORY THEATER
Author(s) -
Sonn Christopher C.,
Quayle Amy F.,
Belanji Belinda,
Baker Alison M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.21676
Subject(s) - racialization , sociology , identity (music) , citizen journalism , context (archaeology) , panacea (medicine) , the arts , social identity theory , public relations , gender studies , aesthetics , political science , social science , social group , visual arts , art , race (biology) , history , law , medicine , alternative medicine , archaeology , pathology
This article describes two participatory theater projects undertaken by Western Edge Youth Arts in Melbourne and aimed at challenging racialization and fostering belonging among culturally diverse young people. Drawing from interview and archival data, we suggest that participatory theater provided the young people the opportunity to share and reflect on their lived experiences and re‐present themselves, as well as gain resources for responding to the different issues associated with racialization. In the settings created, participants were able to disrupt taken for granted and common sense understandings of self and other and create new stories of identity and belonging. These disruptions into the symbolic context of social identity construction are important for personal and social change, including for decentring whiteness. However, participatory theater is not a panacea, nor is it free of power relations. We discuss some of the challenges and limitations of the different projects.