PERFORMING A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: THEATER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE’S COLLECTIVE STORYTELLING by Tammy Beth Arnstein Dissertation Committee: Professor Hope Jensen Leichter, Sponsor Professor Susan P. Sturm Approved by the Committee on the Degree of Doctor of Education Date May 20, 2020 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in Teachers College, Columbia University 2020 ABSTRACT PERFORMING A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: THEATER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE’S COLLECTIVE STORYTELLING Tammy Beth Arnstein There is widespread agreement among researchers, policy experts, and community advocates that the United States’ mass incarceration system is a policy failure. Despite bipartisan consensus and sporadic reform attempts, the policies and systems ravaging low-income families and communities of color remain largely intact. Formerly incarcerated people have been driving the social movement to dismantle mass incarceration since the movement’s inception, yet their advocacy efforts and creation of alternative programmatic and policy approaches have only recently been acknowledged and documented and have yet to be implemented widely. Through this study, I aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge about the advocacy work of women impacted by the justice system by documenting the ethos, practices, and strategies of Theater for Social Change (TSC), a performance arts-based advocacy group composed of formerly incarcerated women in service of justice system transformation. Using action research methodology, I employed dialogic and iterative processes, in partnership with TSC, to develop interview and focus group protocols and analyze data. I also undertook a thematic analysis of post-performance audience discussions, as well as the scenes and monologues created by the ensemble over the years. This research project found that the ensemble way of working—defined by Radosavljević (2013) as “collective, creative, and collaborative”—enabled TSC to develop and model the type of caring and self-organized community and capacity development, per Nixon et al. (2008), that they envision for currently and formerly incarcerated women and their families and communities to create conditions for a just and equitable society. The ensemble way of working nurtured a sisterhood and enabled the exploration of individual and shared experiences of the trauma of incarceration, as well as overcoming systemic inequalities through higher education and career success in a safe and supportive space. Performing scenes and monologues developed from personal stories allows TSC to control its advocacy messages, challenge stereotypes, and create new narratives about the worth of formerly incarcerated people. Theater and post- performance discussions also enable ensemble members to model and employ their multilevel expertise: personal experience navigating the justice system; professional expertise in reentry, mental health and human services; and advocacy leadership. © Copyright Tammy Beth Arnstein 2020 All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my family. I am particularly grateful to the unconditional love and unending support that my parents, Janice and Donald, have given me every step of the way. Without you, I never would have accomplished this dissertation. Second, to my son, Julien, who patiently allowed me to focus on my many years of research and writing. You are my inspiration for completing this work. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank my committee members for the generosity of your time and insights in guiding me throughout this dissertation journey. I offer special thanks to Professors Hope Jensen Leichter and Susan P. Sturm. You went above and beyond in engaging deeply with this project and challenging me to stretch my intellect and employ the rigor that this project requires and deserves. I am also thankful to Professor Kathy Boudin for seizing the opportunity to join my dissertation committee in the midst of developing and directing multiple programs at the Center for Justice. Second, I am grateful to Robert Kennedy for the many years of patience, editing, feedback, and discussion while I was deep in the doctoral studies and dissertation process. I would not have completed this project without your support and sacrifice. I remain in awe of your editing, writing, intellectual, and analytical skills. You have many talents and I was very fortunate that you shared them with me during this multi-year process. I know you will take your creativity and intellectual gifts to new heights. Third, I wish to thank College and Community Fellowship’s former and current staff for supporting me through this lengthy process. Finally, I extend my deepest appreciation to each member of the Theater for Social Change, Barbara Martinsons, and former Artistic Director Beth for trusting me to interpret the legacy of your powerful ensemble from an academic point of view. You opened your hearts and minds and made yourselves vulnerable for this research project. It is my hope that our collaboration contributes to an understanding that creative expression and self-advocacy are vital to fulfilling human dignity and creating a just world. T. B. A. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I – PERFORMING A LIFE JOURNEY: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE THEATER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE ........................................1 Research Problem ....................................................................................................5 Research Objectives and Questions .......................................................................12 Researcher’s Positionality and the Qualitative Research Process .........................14 Overview of Research Design and Methodology ..................................................21 Organization of Dissertation ..................................................................................24 Chapter II – SETTING THE CONTEXT FOR TSC’S SOCIAL CHANGE MISSION: THE FORMERLY INCARCERATED PEOPLE-LED MOVEMENT TO DISMANTLE MASS INCARCERATION ...........................................................25 Part 1: The Racial, Economic, and Gender Dimensions of Mass Incarceration ....29 Justice-Involvement Narratives, Through a Gender Lens .........................34 Reentry and the Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration ..............36 Part 2: The Movement to End Mass Incarceration ................................................38 Eddie Ellis Helps Create a Movement .......................................................41 Angela Davis and a World Without Prisons ..............................................47 Reclaiming Hope Through Education .......................................................52 Chapter III – CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................62 Introduction: “There is no killing the strong black woman” .................................62 Structural and Institutional Violence, Invisibility, and Intersectional Identities ................................................................................................63 Disrupting the Normalcy of Structural Violence: Consciousness Raising, Storytelling, and Developing One’s Voice .............................68 Imagining New Futures: Narratives and Spaces of Hopes, Dreams, and Liberation .......................................................................................75 Applying These Concepts to the Performance of a Life Story ..................78 The Dialogic Process: Defining and Articulating Key Terms ...............................83 Integrating the Conceptual Framework: A structure for Analysis .........................90 Chapter IV – RESEARCH DESIGN, METHODOLOGY, AND DATA ANALYSIS ....92 The Action Research Methodology .......................................................................94 Action Research Methodology in Practice ............................................................98 Research Approach, Processes, Sub-questions, and Data Collection ......101 Narrative study .................................................................................102 Critical theory and analysis ..............................................................103 Action research processes in greater detail and addressing ethical considerations ....................................................................104 Rigor of the study .............................................................................107 Process validity ...........................................................................108 Catalytic validity ........................................................................108 Dialogic validity .........................................................................108 v Chapter IV (continued) Democratic validity ....................................................................109 Outcome validity ........................................................................109 Data collection and analysis process ................................................109 Chapter V – “EDUCATION IS LIBERATION”: HIGHER EDUCATION AND A COMMUNITY FOR HEALING AND EMPOWERMENT ...........................112 Introduction: TSC’s Life Journeys, Foundational Values, and Commitments ....112 The Conscientization Process: Critically Engaging in Personal Stories and Making the Social Context Visible .................................................................113 The Promise of Higher Education in Prison ........................................................122 TSC’s Humble Beginnings at CCF ......................................................................127