Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the performative and the theatrical operations at work in the act of activism, conceived both in its political and its aesthetic dimensions. It analyzes the conceptual framing and the functionality of the Transborder Immigrant Tool (TBT), a cellular phone application created by the members of the artist/activist collective known as the Electronic Disturbance Theater. The book examines the digital production and broadcasting of hip hop music by marginalized adolescents in Guatemala as a form of contestatory activism. It also analyzes the contestatory facets of narcocorrido music (drug trafficking ballads) in Mexican border towns and cities. The book explains the interactive power of blogging as a way of building community and advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities in contemporary Mexico.