Jörgen Dahlqvist

In Dialogue with Society: Democratic Engagement

Jörgen Dahlqvist’s doctoral project explores how theatre can contribute to democratic engagement. The starting point was artistic probes investigating aspects of democracy: participation, deliberation and inclusion. The probes resulted in three productions presented at theatre institutions in Sweden. In Skapa Demokrati (Creating Democracy), participation was promoted by encouraging the audience members to create a democracy together. In Öva Demokrati (Practicing Democracy), deliberation was in focus. The performance allowed the audience to deliberate on suggestions for strengthening Swedish Democracy. In Monument, different strategies were used to promote inclusion in society. The project started with the idea that monuments say something about society. The research has resulted in strategies for inclusion and a novel theatre format, the conversational theatre, which encourages participation and deliberation. These outcomes could provide the theatre with methods to be in dialogue with society.

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