Theatre and Democracy

Book Details:

• Author: Asha Pande

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• Edition: 2008

• ISBN: 8131601994

• Pages: 200

• Cover: Hardcover

• Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches

About the Book:

This collection of essays on democracy in performance is both timely and thought-provoking. In the modern age, the concept of democracy has evolved significantly, losing its original focus on individual will in many political systems and transnational enterprises. Today, democracy is often used as both a justification and an objective for the neoliberal agenda that promotes the free-flow of global capital. In this context, nations are treated like businesses, competing against each other, with those who resist forced into compliance.

The book argues that democracy in the twenty-first century is no longer about individual agency. Instead, it has been redefined and manipulated to fit the needs of global capitalism, with political and economic systems being dismantled and reorganized under the guise of democratic principles. The essays in this volume explore how democracy, while theoretically rooted in the empowerment of the individual, often results in the subjugation of the individual to a simulated democracy.

The collection examines how the idea of pure democracy is increasingly reshaped into an organized form, which in turn feeds into the larger global capitalist agenda. Once the domain of empires, universalism has now transformed into the dominant force driving the world economy. Democracy, therefore, is portrayed as the most significant political performance of our time.

About the Author:

Ravi Chaturvedi, a renowned academic and theatre expert, is currently a Visiting Professor at the Department of Theatre & Film Studies at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea. He previously served as Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Dramatics at University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He is the founder president of the Indian Society for Theatre Research and has been an executive member of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) for eight years.

His contributions to the field include the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre and the edited book “Ethnicity and Identity: Global Performance.” He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Theatre Research International (Cambridge University Press) and organized the first IFTR conference in Asia in 2003 at Jaipur. Chaturvedi is also a professional theatre director with a significant impact on the theatre community.