Performing Democracy in Iraq and South Africa: Gender, Media, and Resistance
Segall's book draws our attention to the use of media, art and popular culture by ordinary people living through extraordinary times. She highlights the role of affect and emotion in resisting, negotiating, understanding and coping with dramatic and sometimes violent political change. --Nicola Pratt, coauthor of What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of IraqA keen listener and observer, Kimberly Wedeven Segall brings together two decades of engagement with Middle Eastern and African communities that have sought to forge new political imaginaries. Drawing our attention to many forgotten springs beyond the newly named Arab Spring, Segall shows how popular and artistic expressions in these communities have resulted in hybrid blooms of democratic voices. --Gaurav Desai, coeditor of Postcolonialisms: An Anthology of Cultural Theory and CriticismSegall engages some of the most innovative artists of contemporary South African theatre, including Brett Bailey, Ya l Farber, and Nadia Davids. Performing artists' meditations on the complexities of post-apartheid democracy illuminate the gulf between South Africa's constitution, with its progressive aspirations for human rights, and the legacies of an apartheid past evident in persistent violence and socio-economic inequality today. --Catherine M. Cole, author of Performing South Africa's Truth Commission: Stages of Transition