Overview

Theater of State is an innovative study of performance in international relations. It asks why states and their representatives come to the United Nations to perform for a global Audience, and how those Audiences in turn may intervene in the spectacle of global politics.   A study of the lived experience of spectacular politics on the world stage, Theater of State looks at key spaces in which global politics play out in debating forums of the UN, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and peacekeeping operations in Africa and the Middle East, as well as at a variety of related media Productions (plays, concerts, television programs, and so on). It argues for recognizing that culture and politics form a unified field organized by the theatricality of its actors and the engaged spectatorship of its Audiences. It provides a theory of global political spectatorship: of how the world watches itself in institutions and beyond, and of what citizens and diplomats do by watching.   The author draws on theories of theater, performance, and politics to offer new ways of approaching issues of war, cosmopolitanism, international justice, governance, and activism. Situated at the nexus of two disciplines, performance studies and political science, this volume encourages conversations between the two that each might offer lessons to the other. 

Full Product Details

Author:   James Ball
Publisher:   Northwestern University Press
Imprint:   Northwestern University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.70cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.462kg
ISBN:  

9780810141124

ISBN 10:   0810141124
Pages:   216
Publication Date:   30 November 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

"Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: ""Big Heart, Tiny Legs I Guess"" A Dramaturgy of International Institutions Performing in a Theater of States 2. ""Purpose is but the Slave to Memory"" Narrative and History in the Security Council Hamlet in the Security Council The Security Council in Stuff Happens 3. ""To Be Seen is to Be Doomed"" The Force of Spectatorship in UN Peacekeeping The UN Interim Force in Lebanon and In a Kingdom by the Sea The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ruined Spectatorship and Global Governmentality         4. ""The World of the Rulers is the World of the Spectacle"" Time and Reiteration in Diplomatic Speech An Unfolding Present: Fun Home on Broadway Insurrectionary Speech Cyclical Time: Obama's Disarmament Summit 5. ""To Receive an Impression is to Make an Impression"" Clapping Along with the Secretary-General International Happiness Day New Year's Concert of the 67th Session of the General Assembly 6. ""Between One Person and Another"" Interfacing with Institutions at the International Criminal Court The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo Crossing Lines v. The International Criminal Court 7. ""No More Than a Piece of Paper"" The Written Word in a Theater of States Transcript [Brackets] Model 8. Epilogue: ""On Notice"" and ""Taking Names"" Bibliography Notes"

Reviews

Theater of State is an ambitious and compelling study that takes on the UN itself as a global platform for theorizing the performativity of diplomacy, peacemaking, and transnational justice. --Laura Edmondson, author of Performing Trauma in Central Africa

"Theater of State is an ambitious and compelling study that takes on the UN itself as a global platform for theorizing the performativity of diplomacy, peacemaking, and transnational justice."" —Laura Edmondson, author of Performing Trauma in Central Africa"

Author Information

James R. Ball III is an assistant professor in the department of performance studies at Texas A&M University.

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