Lecture: Is Role Playing Good for Democracy?

Description
Does live-action role-playing have anything to do with democracy? It is believed that activities – any activities – done together in non-profit groups, such as clubs and associations, contribute to democracy. This is one of the reasons for supporting youth organizations, at least for the Swedish State. It has been said that interactive activities such as role-playing games and live-action role-playing create a context that is less hierarchic, and thus more democratic, than that reproduced in traditional, so called passive, art. It is also believed that role-playing can be used as a pedagogical tool for teaching, for example democracy. Is this true? Are these aims even contradictory? Are they true in all cases or are there differences between different kinds of role-playing games? Are there important differences between the Nordic countries? Are these important from a democracy perspective, or for the development of live-action role-playing as a cultural context?

Who
Tobias Harding has been a role-player and live-action role-player since he was thirteen years, currently working in a research project studying democracy as a practice in non-profit organizations. In this context I hope to study how organizing live-action role-playing, a relatively new activity, has developed into an increasingly well-ordered and institutional activity, and how democracy has been interpreted, and re-interpreted, in the context of this new form of culture and in the organizations that has developed within it.

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