ABSTRACT
The emphasis in workshop formats on learning, reflection, and inquiry is another feature that resonates with Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), bringing it closer to Paulo Freire’s pedagogical practices. A curious logic of professionalization and gatekeeping characterizes the structures of TO, whereby it might seem like one needs to attend the workshops in order to be trained as a TO practitioner. The conditions under which TO is practiced, disseminated, and nurtured are profoundly shaped by the stealthy rationale of neoliberalism. To politicize TO in the world would mean to subject it to a fundamental self-critical examination of the category of oppression under the regime of neoliberalism. The classic liberal subject is increasingly framed in terms of human capital, under pressure to improve its market value, and thus constrained to make choices governed by an economic rationale of growth, profit, or at least minimization of loss.
