KEYNOTE: “You're not allowed to say that” Minefields and political correctness

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore three issues that have struck us when using drama to explore equality and diversity. The first is the stronghold of notions of ‘political correctness’ and, arguably, the hegemonic position of an anti-PC discourse. The second is the lurking residue of ‘colonial’ attitudes that seep even into attempts to construct antiracist practices. The third is the pedagogic tension between intended learning outcomes which entail getting a particular message across and the desire to give free rein to different voices. We wish to share our discoveries, thoughts and dilemmas regarding these three issues while giving you a taste of a project that we have been recently developing: Minefields.