Dramaturgical Practices at UN Climate Conferences
| Practice . | Definition . |
|---|---|
| Scripting | The script defines the general character of a UN conference: its purpose, sequence of events, and narrative arc. It also comprises implicit rules of behavior along with more specific instructions laid out in treaties, decisions, and rules of procedure. Scripting denotes attempts to operationalize existing rules or introduce new ones or to shape the overall narrative of a conference. This includes shaping expectations for appropriate behavior and determining the set of roles that are available to participants in a given setting (role provision). Counterscripting challenges prevalent scripts by questioning existing rules or recasting roles. |
| Setting | Setting denotes the provision and design of stage(s) where performances take place, their spatial distribution across a conference space, and the equipment of performances with accessories, artifacts, and symbols that interpret the script. |
| Staging | Staging refers to the overall organization of interactions and performances in a multilateral setting. It entails selecting and applying a script; interpreting it by establishing links to existing and/or new symbols and characters; and providing material, symbolic, or reputational incentives for agents to engage in dramaturgical practices. Staging establishes a distinction between actors and audience(s). By extension, it therefore also includes interventions aimed at bringing other agents virtually “onstage” by referring to them, quoting them, highlighting their achievements, or voicing their concerns. |
| Performing | Performances are public interactions during a conference that enact a script and produce social realities. Actors thereby engage in technical debates or emotional statements within given settings, embody preset roles (role taking) or reshape them (role making), and creatively interpret and improvise on scripts. |
| Practice . | Definition . |
|---|---|
| Scripting | The script defines the general character of a UN conference: its purpose, sequence of events, and narrative arc. It also comprises implicit rules of behavior along with more specific instructions laid out in treaties, decisions, and rules of procedure. Scripting denotes attempts to operationalize existing rules or introduce new ones or to shape the overall narrative of a conference. This includes shaping expectations for appropriate behavior and determining the set of roles that are available to participants in a given setting (role provision). Counterscripting challenges prevalent scripts by questioning existing rules or recasting roles. |
| Setting | Setting denotes the provision and design of stage(s) where performances take place, their spatial distribution across a conference space, and the equipment of performances with accessories, artifacts, and symbols that interpret the script. |
| Staging | Staging refers to the overall organization of interactions and performances in a multilateral setting. It entails selecting and applying a script; interpreting it by establishing links to existing and/or new symbols and characters; and providing material, symbolic, or reputational incentives for agents to engage in dramaturgical practices. Staging establishes a distinction between actors and audience(s). By extension, it therefore also includes interventions aimed at bringing other agents virtually “onstage” by referring to them, quoting them, highlighting their achievements, or voicing their concerns. |
| Performing | Performances are public interactions during a conference that enact a script and produce social realities. Actors thereby engage in technical debates or emotional statements within given settings, embody preset roles (role taking) or reshape them (role making), and creatively interpret and improvise on scripts. |
Adapted from Hajer (2009).