Spectators in the Field of Politics [Hardcover]

The book uses the long-standing theatre metaphor to bring political spectators out into the open, finding that they can be politically powerful. Filling out the metaphor with theatre theory, the book also finds that the metaphor can produce a viable model of democratic politics that incorporates spectators in a positive, meaningful way.Contents Tables and Figures Acknowledgments 1. Locating Political Spectators 2. Seeing through Metaphor 3. Clearing the Ground 4. Spectatorship and the Theater/Drama Metaphor 5. Theater as a Model for Politics 6. Politics as Theater 7. Seeing Through the Theater/Drama Metaphor: More Than Meets the Eye 8. Coming to Terms with Distance 9. An Ethics for Political Spectatorship? 10. Recognizing Spectatorship Bibliography Index

This is thoughtful, detailed and imaginative project that clears much ground. The investigation of the role of spectatorship in contemporary politics that values it for itself is groundbreaking. The author clarifies the often confused concepts of theatricality, drama, dramaturgy, performance, and performativity. The book lays the foundations of a new approach to topic area and deserves a wide readership. -Brian Longhurst, Professor of Sociology, University of Salford, UK

Sandey Fitzgerald holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art in Technical Production from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia and a doctorate in Politics from Macquarie University, Australia. She has worked in theater in a number of capacities and was involved in pioneering theater-in-education in Australia. She currently teaches and researches in the disciplines of Politics and Sociology at Macquarie University, where her research is focused on the intersections between these interests, and on spectatorship: its implications, obligations and limitations.