Counter-Narratives Mobilized by Deprived Communities Through Theatre Interventions: Deconstructing and Reframing Master Narratives

Abstract

Mise au Jeu is a Quebec-based social intervention organization that has been putting on forum theatre – in the Augusto Boal tradition of the theatre of the oppressed – for over 20 years. We investigate how such a non-profit organization creates spaces where members of a deprived communities can elaborate counter-narratives to deconstruct dominant narratives, thereby helping them to make sense of situations of oppression they are living and to act to promote social change. By unpacking counter-narrative strategies and their enabling mechanisms, our study contributes to the narrative tradition in two principal ways. First, while extending Deetz’s work on dominant narratives, we enrich existing understanding of the disruptive power of counter-narratives in situations of social exclusion by bringing to bear the theatrical principles and techniques of Augusto Boal, a missing voice in extant narrative literature. Second, we propose a reflexive discussion related to the political conceptualization of counter-narratives.

Forum: The Case for Reflexive Writing Practices in Management Communication and Organization Studies

“…However, there is a distinct risk that reflexivity ends up as a “dull academic ritual, another formula with which to elicit the yawning approval of one’s peers” (Gabriel, 2017, p. 137). For example, in management communication research, mentioning reflexivity in passing and listing it alongside authenticity and plausibility to justify the “rigor” and “reliability” of one’s research (Prado Saldanha et al, 2023) does not say much about what reflexivity is and how it informs the research, let alone its outcome, the written and published article. It is silent about the intricacies of crafting research reflexively through writing.…”

“…Second, and relatedly, it is important to respect those we write about. Reflexivity can be connected to “mutual understanding” between researchers and those they study about the goals of the research, and to “the principle of transparency, to guarantee that all participants (including the reader) can trace the aims and techniques of the research process” (Prado Saldanha et al, 2023, p. 487). Referring to collaboration with practitioners, Barge and Wolfe (2023) advise us to manage the meaning making process in research so that we can generate knowledge that is useful to all parties.…”

“…The August 2023 issue of Management Communication Quarterly , for example, included ten articles with a variety of topics and approaches as well as notable geographical diversity in the empirical studies. Reflexivity featured in only one of the published articles, where Prado Saldanha et al (2023) investigated how a non-profit organization creates spaces where members of deprived communities can elaborate counter-narratives to deconstruct dominant narratives.…”

“…The issue of “rigor” in qualitative research was covered in many of the articles, including Prado Saldanha et al (2023). Discussing the ethical implications of their participatory research design, the authors mentioned reflexivity as one of three “well-known criteria for rigorous non-positivistic research” alongside authenticity and plausibility (pp.…”