Music and Democracy

1. Why did you chose this topic?

Democracy is currently at stake in a way that it has not been for a long time in this world – we live in times of a global democracy fatigue, when hard-won standards of political participation yield to ego-centred individuals, gradually reducing the thresholds of social justice, codetermination and political decency. To highlight music's entanglements with various forms of political participation and democratic processes but also with the neglections of democracy and anti-democratic phenomena, for us thus constituted a highly relevant and topic for an edited volume.

2. What new perspectives does your book offer?

Most of the topics of this volume were rarely discussed so far even if they are of high relevance. The book provides recent insights into how people achieve social, cultural, and political participation through music. New perspectives comprise music technology's promise and myth of democratization, the use of music in imposing authoritarian, neoliberal up to fascist political ideas, and music's impact on political systems, governmental representation, and socio-political realities. The volume further offers perspectives from the fields of gender, migration and disability.

3. What makes your topic relevant for current research debates?

Critical interrogation of political hegemonies strongly shapes current research debates in the humanities. Given that music as a cultural practice is a mode of social interaction, the book's focus on musical phenomena offers exceptional insights into political participation and democracy. Our volume might thus provide impulses in various ways.

4. Choose one person you would like to discuss your book with!

From an artistic perspective, Marko's choice would be Lil Nas X – the way he transforms political thought with his music is just mindblowing. Academically, Fritz' suggestion is Georgina Born – and Robert Adlington, together with Esteban Buch, as they recently published a most interesting anthology on music and democracy as well.

5. Your book summary in one sentence:

Music and Democracy explores music above all as a resource for societal transformation processes, pertaining to a variety of disciplinary perspectives, time periods and musical positionalities.