This thesis explores the potential of performance, understood as sociological phenomena and an artist practice, to expose the ways in which fear is manipulated, internalized and politicized. Operating from the standpoint of affect theory, claiming emotions as crucial elements of understanding the contemporary society, the research focuses on fear as one of the strongest emotions with the capacity of influencing the
body and the (conscious and subconscious) mind, making it politically salient. Responding to the personal as well as societal urgency of gaining awareness into how this affect is used through and against certain bodies, the research aims to fill the gap of underrepresentation of artistic, specifically performance practices in the wider discussions on the political use of fear, claiming performance’s intrinsic connection to politics and manipulation. Drawing from sociology neuroscience and psychological studies, as well as performance and theater studies, the research takes their insights into the realm of artistic practice, situating fear not as an innate or universal response, but as a socially conditioned and embodied experience shaped by factors such as gender, ethnicity, and social position. Taking the body of the author as the primary source of inquiry, the research employs the methods of autoethnography, photography, acting and reenactment as tools for gaining an embodied knowledge on the workings of fear, its sources and the the politics of their representations. In order to expose them, it proceeds with the exploration of language and embodied presence. By positioning performance as both a mode of analysis and a practice of exposition and subversion, the thesis argues for interdisciplinary framework for understanding how fear operates as a psychopolitical tool. It presents performative strategies and dramaturgical operations such as re-enactment, satire and metaphor as contributions to the further practice of politically engaged performance-making.