"I know of no other empirical study of community arts that is so widespread and executed so thoroughly." --Eugene Van Erven, Utrecht University, Netherlands The book focuses on participatory artistic practices, with South of Europe and Latin America as the central geographical context for analysis. The book aims to redefine and explore key concepts such as community art practices, civic and political participation, and cultural and artistic involvement. Through in-depth case studies, the work (re)examines the elements of community artistic practices and the quality of artistic and cultural participation, particularly in the context of Brazilian and Portuguese theatre groups. Hugo Cruz is an artist, cultural programmer and teacher/researcher at Évora University, Portugal. He holds a doctorate and postgraduate in community art and civic and political participation. He is the author of several publications, including Art, Reinvention and Futures, and Artistic Practices, Participation and Politics, which has so far published in 9 languages. He is a consultant for the Calouste Gulbenkian, La Caixa Foundations and candidate city for European Capital of Culture Braga 27.