Poking the WASP Nest

André de Quadros, Ed.D., is an ethnomusicologist, music educator, and human rights activist, with professional work in the most diverse settings in more than 40 countries. He is a professor at Boston University and visiting professor at Victoria University.Dave Kelman, Ph.D. (2009), University of Melbourne, is an independent theatre practitioner and researcher. He has published widely on applied theatre and drama education, including: 'Am I not beautiful?’ Cultural identity and the process of co-authorship. Research in Drama Education, (2018).Julie White, Ph.D. (2004), University of Melbourne, is Associate Professor of Education at Victoria University. She has published more than 70 articles and books about education, equity and exclusion. Her current work focuses on the education of young people in youth justice.Christopher Sonn, Ph.D. (1996), Victoria University, is Professor of Community Psychology at Victoria University, Australia. His publications include the co-authored book Social Psychology and Everyday Life (Red Globe Press, 2020) and co-edited book Decoloniality and Epistemic Justice in Contemporary Community Psychology (Springer, 2021).Alison Baker, Ph.D. (2011), North Carolina State University, is Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Victoria University. Her focus is on the use of community-based arts as a catalyst for community and civic engagement among young people from underrepresented groups.

"This manuscript contributes more than just a unique case study from the Australian context, it offers ways to think through the role of applied theatre and other creative approaches to anti-racist praxis. It also offers some insights into the realities of young people facing structural violence and racism and the ways creative approaches can be spaces which are both healing and empowering. [I]t is an informative, provocative and instructional work. It manages to weave together an array of theorising, case studies, positionalities, practical applications, and reflections in a deeply contextualised manner. The writing is accessible, and it would offer researchers, practitioners and educators some very useful ways to think through and develop anti-racist praxis via creative modalities" – Sam Keast, Victoria University"The 6 Hours in Geelong project nudges us, ever so gently, to think, wonder, and move with critical praxis through a process grounded in decolonial theory, transformative education, public pedagogy to a performance which acknowledges, exposes, and challenges us to think differently about who we are in relation to race. “The arts,” Maxine Greene suggests, “cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world." – Elizabeth (Liz) Mackinlay, The University of Queensland"I find this book to be extremely timely and of the utmost importance, especially to readers from the United States given the attacks that are currently being made on the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools in the US. [...] Overall, I believe this book will be a significant contribution to anti-racism literature providing practical information and powerful messages to teachers, community arts leaders, and others who are concerned about issues of racism in society." – William G. McManus, Boston University

• AcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsNotes on AuthorsPART 1: Setting the Scene1 Tackling Racism: Community Theatre, Critical Inquiry, and Epistemic Disobedience1 Laying the Conceptual Foundations2 Placing This Study3 The Structure of This Book2 Researching from Somewhere: Our Personal and Collective Positioning1 Alison Baker2 André de Quadros3 Dave Kelman4 Christopher Sonn5 Julie White3 Crafting an Approach across and through Difference1 Bringing Applied Theatre and Research Together2 Working across, with, and through Diffference as Intra-Action3 Methodological Approach4 ConclusionPART 2: Applied Theatre: The Arts Education Project4 Looking Inward: 6 Hours in Geelong as Process1 Who Were the Actors?2 Applied Theatre3 6 Hours in Geelong4 Devising Process5 Characters6 Authoring Process7 Play Excerpts8 Conclusion5 Looking Outward: How Community Audiences Viewed 6 Hours in Geelong1 Geelong after Dark2 School Interactive Performances3 The Community Performance Events4 ConclusionPART 3: Theorisation and Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Discussion6 Applied Theatre: The Practitioner’s Dilemma1 White Privilege, Race, Power Relations, and Positionalities2 The Slippery Nature of Artistic Meaning in Context3 Individual and Group Identity4 The Nature of the Challenge5 Processes and Practices for Negotiating Intersections in Making 6 Hours in Geelong6 Group Authorship7 A Provisional Offfering7 “People Don’t Know Our Story”: Exposing Coloniality through Counter-Storytelling1 Critical Studies of Race, Decoloniality, and Stories2 Unpacking Stories through the Lens of Coloniality3 Young People Negotiating Coloniality in Everyday Lives4 Conclusion8 Essentialism and Cosmopolitan WEIRDness1 WEIRDness, Essentialism, and Coloniality2 Entanglements of Racism, Theatre, and Theory3 Analysis of Racism and Identity in 6 Hours in Geelong4 Embracing ComplexityPART 4: So What? Implications for Practice9 Schooling, Racism, and Powerful Conversations1 Context for Conceptualisation2 Schools as the Site for Discussions about Race3 Conceptual Framework for Powerful Conversations4 How Teachers Can Overcome Obstacles5 Conclusion10 Community Arts: Politics and Privilege1 Community Arts in Context2 Politics and Privilege in Community Arts Practice3 Race as Context for Practice4 Implications11 Aftermath and AfterwardsAppendix: 6 Hours in Geelong ScriptReferencesIndex