Expanding the Sociological Horizon: Music, Meaning, and Matter

• In Event: 40258 - Culture II: On Novelty and Transformation

Abstract

Building on contemporary discussions of the cultural turn in political sociology, this article centers on the question: to what extent can musical culture contribute to both emancipatory and illiberal social change? This paper takes the case study of musical practices and compositions, focused empirically on the civil rights movement, as a concrete instance to investigate the question. The paper supplements the dominant production and consumption approach found within the sociological-music space with conversations surrounding materiality and embodiment, arguing that knowledge surrounding musical notation and practices is key to understanding music’s role in enacting social change. In doing so, the paper proposes four analytical categories more suited towards music’s ability to engender social change inspired by Hesmondhalgh’s (2013) conceptualization. The first two dimensions involve the levels of social change, i. the psychological or ii. the social. The final two dimensions reflect the agents of musical social change, iii. the textual (the use of lyrics) or iv. the symbolic (the use of preeminently musical language) elements. I conclude with a call to action, proposing a more specified mechanistic approach to cultural sociological research involving the musical arts.

Author

• John Mirsky, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor