Artistic and Activist Counterpublics in Light of the Neo-Authoritarian Shift

In cooperation with the junior professorship “Theater Studies with a Focus on Transnational Theater” at Ruhr University Bochum

The neo-authoritarian tendencies that today threaten democracies on a global scale take on unique forms depending on cultures and forms of government in which they develop. Alongside the decisions of state power such as the tightening of migration policies, attacks on justice and the separation of powers, freedom of the press and academic research, we also witness a brutalization of social relations manifested through antifeminist backlash and queer- and transphobia, the rise of racist and anti-Semitic attacks, and the ever-stronger presence of identitarian far-right groups in the public space – as well as their digital violence.
While this brutalization clearly endangers democratic life itself, it also urges to reexamine the very spaces and practices of protest and opposition, of resistance and solidarity, as well as their political performativity. Therefore, this workshop aims to discuss the new challenges faced by contemporary counterpublics and counter-communities in different world regions and the practices of resistance they enable against neo-authoritarian politics.
How do these practices of assembling, protesting and commoning emerge in the face of their ongoing repression, and how do they oppose not only state power, but also attempt to escape other forms of economic, political, social, and cultural domination? How do artists and activists utilize digital, street, and community spaces to express their demands, forge alliances, and create alternative spaces of togetherness? And how are they testing other forms of society?

With Daphna Ben-Shaul (Tel Aviv University), Azadeh Ganjeh (HKS Ottersberg), Oliver Marchart (Universität Wien), Olga Shparaga (Fernuniversität Hagen), Livia de Souza Lima (Universität Bielefeld).

In English.
The workshop is open to the public. Interested guests are more than welcome – please register via e-mail: dramaturgies-afterlife@rub.de.

The workshop ends at 5:30 p.m. Following the workshop, the performance Dirty Laundry. The Trashopera by Nicoleta Esinencu & teatru-spălătorie will take place at FFT at 8:00 p.m.