Heterotopic Happenings: Invoking the Radical Imagination and Inspiring New Human-Ecological Norms through British Climate Change Performance. A comparative case study of 2071 and And While London Burns

Sammanfattning: We are at what appears to be an impasse. Almost everyone across the world – and certainly in the west – has heard of climate change and knows at least a bit about what it means. Yet dominant norms, values and behaviours in the human-ecological relationship still persist, despite the fact that many of these are agreed to be the very source of the problem. Finding a way – or more accurately, ways – to overcome this impasse is imperative if we are to seriously tackle the increasingly complex and ever-deepening social and ecological crises that climate change is producing. Through a comparative case study of two pieces of British climate change performance – 2071 (2014) and And While London Burns (2006) – this thesis a) explores how dominant norms in the human-ecological relationship can be challenged and subverted through performance and b) increase the critical relevance of performance in today’s ‘late modern’ world. First, a theoretical framework is constructed using three key concepts: Elder Vass’s (2013) norm circles, Foucault’s (1984 [1967]) heterotopias, and Haiven and Khasnabish's (2014) radical imagination. These are theorised as being able to work together towards radical social change. To test this idea, the two performances are analysed using a method of heterotopic analysis, following the lead of Tompkins (2014). This involves a close and critical reading of the performances, supplemented by semi-structured interviews with key informants, my own experience of the performances and additional material including reviews and articles related to the performances. The analysis is split into four sections. The first three each take a close look at one element of the performance’ narratives. The final section discusses in what way the ‘experience’ of each of the performances can be said to be heterotopic, what type of heterotopias they are and what role, if any they play in invoking the radical imagination and inspiring new narratives that encourage human-ecologlcal change. The thesis ends with a return to the theoretical framework and a discussion of its applicability to further research.