Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance »

Madison presents the neglected yet compelling and necessary story of local activists in South Saharan Africa who employ modes of performance as tactics of resistance and intervention in their day-to-day struggles for human rights. The dynamic relationship between performance and activism are illustrated in three case studies: Act One presents a battle between tradition and modernity as the bodies of African women are caught in the cross-fire. Act Two focuses on 'water democracy' as activists fight for safe, accessible public water as a human right. Act Three examines the efficacy of street performance and theatre for development in the oral histories of Ghanaian gender activists. Unique to this book is the continuing juxtaposition between the everyday performances of local activism and their staged enactments before theatre audiences in Ghana and the USA. Madison beautifully demonstrates how these disparate sites of performance cohere in the service of rights, justice, and activism.

List of illustrations viii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Act I Is it a human being or a girl? 34

Scene 1 Watching So Minutes 34

Scene 2 Deep particularities 60

Scene 3 Klikor, the sage, and the chief 67

Scene 4 Graduation day 86

Act II Water rites/rights 97

Scene 1 "Then do it!" 97

Scene 2 The sense of being present 124

Scene 3 The aim to provoke 139

Scene 4 Who am I in all this? 148

Act III Acts of activism 157

Scene 1 The white girl upstairs 157

Scene 2 Don't cry, wail 172

Scene 3 I am an activist 187

Scene 4 Narrating Theatre for Development 201

Epilogue 224

Appendices: Scripts 229

Appendix 1 Is it a human being or a girl? 231

Appendix 2 Water rites 268

Bibliography 305

Index 318