Performing the Wound in Animal Rights: Probing Performative Trauma Approaches and Processes within Animal Rights Activism in the UK
This thesis explores the intersection of performance and animal rights activism through the lens of trauma, demonstrating the power of performance as a tool for advocacy and social change. Employing a practice-based methodology, it examines two key performance projects: Box of Shadows, a live, website-based performance, and Anti-Hunt, an endurance-based installation. The research is supported by a digital archive (1978–2022) and a podcast series (2021–2023), highlighting patterns and themes in animal rights performances worldwide. Ethnography and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis are used to examine the emotional and psychological dimensions of activism and nonhuman animal trauma. Centred in performance and performance studies, this work situates itself within discourses on trauma, activism, and interspecies relationships, offering innovative approaches to public engagement. By positioning performance as a transformative tool for challenging anthropocentrism and fostering interspecies empathy, the thesis contributes to performance studies by demonstrating its capacity to address urgent ethical issues in the UK animal rights movement.
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