Music and Its Social Meanings

Music and Its Social Meanings
Author: Christopher Ballantine
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1136768521

First Published in 1984. This is the second volume in a series on musicology and related areas edited by F. Joseph Smith. Deciphering the specific social characteristics of music has long lagged behind the analytical dissection of musical composition and biographical musicology. The essays in this volume have been produced in an attempt to redress the balance. The sociology of music as examined here is an investigation into the ways social formations come together in musical structures. These essays specifically address the problem of our neutralized music consciousness, the separation of music from the social context and the artificial insulation of musical understanding from the realms of social meanings. One theme in these essays concerns the struggle against ideological distortions arising from the insulation of music from its sociological context. The author argues that there is a stronger connection between music and society than is generally assumed.

Music and Manipulation

Music and Manipulation
Author: Steven Brown
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2006
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1845450981

Since the beginning of human civilization, music has been used as a device to control social behavior, where it has operated as much to promote solidarity within groups as hostility between competing groups. Music is an emotive manipulator that influences attitude, motivation and behavior at many levels and in many contexts. This volume is the first to address the social ramifications of music’s behaviorally manipulative effects, its morally questionable uses and control mechanisms, and its economic and artistic regulation through commercialization, thus highlighting not only music’s diverse uses at the social level but also the ever-fragile relationship between aesthetics and morality.

Music Sociology

Music Sociology
Author: Sara Towe Horsfall
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2015-11-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317255844

Music Sociology explores 16 different genres to demonstrate that music everywhere reflects social values, organisational processes, meanings and individual identity. Presenting original ethnographic research, the contributors use descriptions of subcultures to explain the concepts of music sociology, including the rituals that link people to music, the past and each other. Music Sociology introduces the sociology of music to those who may not be familiar with it and provides a basic historical perspective on popular music in America and beyond.

At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice

At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice
Author: Brenda M. Romero
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2023-02-07
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0253064791

Music is powerful and transformational, but can it spur actual social change? A strong collection of essays, At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice studies the meaning of music within a community to investigate the intersections of sound and race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and differing abilities. Ethnographic work from a range of theoretical frameworks uncovers and analyzes the successes and limitations of music's efficacies in resolving conflicts, easing tensions, reconciling groups, promoting unity, and healing communities. This volume is rooted in the Crossroads Section for Difference and Representation of the Society for Ethnomusicology, whose mandate is to address issues of diversity, difference, and underrepresentation in the society and its members' professional spheres. Activist scholars who contribute to this volume illuminate possible pathways and directions to support musical diversity and representation. At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice is an excellent resource for readers interested in real-world examples of how folklore, ethnomusicology, and activism can, together, create a more just and inclusive world.

Music and Social Movements

Music and Social Movements
Author: Ron Eyerman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 1998-02-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139936263

Building on their studies of sixties culture and theory of cognitive praxis, Ron Eyerman and Andrew Jamison examine the mobilization of cultural traditions and formulation of new collective identities through the music of activism. They combine a sophisticated theoretical argument with historical-empirical studies of nineteenth-century populists and twentieth-century labour and ethnic movements, focusing on the interrelations between music and social movements in the United States and the transfer of those experiences to Europe. Specific chapters examine folk and country music, black music, music of the 1960s movements, and music of the Swedish progressive movement. This highly readable book is among the first to link the political sociology of social movements to cultural theory.

The Social Meaning of the Senses

The Social Meaning of the Senses
Author: Paul Eisewicht
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2023-08-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3658385804

That which we consider to be real we call knowledge. As a rule, we consider what our five senses convey to us to be real. Our perception and what we consider real and construct as socially effective differs depending on which senses we focus on and how intensively. The connection between reality constructions and sensory conditions has received little attention in social research so far. This concerns, for example, the use of our sensory organs for empirical reconstructions of bodies of knowledge, sensory perceptions as part of bodies of knowledge, or the question of how far knowledge is dependent on sensory abilities. This anthology attempts to close this gap by focusing on the social significance of sensory perceptions and discussing it using the example of various objects of investigation. This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.

Musical Style and Social Meaning

Musical Style and Social Meaning
Author: DerekB. Scott
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351556878

Why do we feel justified in using adjectives such as romantic, erotic, heroic, melancholic, and a hundred others when speaking about music? How do we locate these meanings within particular musical styles? These are questions that have occupied Derek Scott's thoughts and driven his critical musicological research for many years. In this selection of essays, dating from 1995-2010, he returns time and again to examining how conventions of representation arise and how they become established. Among the themes of the collection are social class, ideology, national identity, imperialism, Orientalism, race, the sacred and profane, modernity and postmodernity, and the vexed relationship of art and entertainment. A wide variety of musical styles is discussed, ranging from jazz and popular song to the symphonic repertoire and opera.

Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Author: William Forde Thompson
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 1350
Release: 2014-07-18
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1452283028

This first definitive reference resource to take a broad interdisciplinary approach to the nexus between music and the social and behavioral sciences examines how music affects human beings and their interactions in and with the world. The interdisciplinary nature of the work provides a starting place for students to situate the status of music within the social sciences in fields such as anthropology, communications, psychology, linguistics, sociology, sports, political science and economics, as well as biology and the health sciences. Features: Approximately 450 articles, arranged in A-to-Z fashion and richly illustrated with photographs, provide the social and behavioral context for examining the importance of music in society. Entries are authored and signed by experts in the field and conclude with references and further readings, as well as cross references to related entries. A Reader's Guide groups related entries by broad topic areas and themes, making it easy for readers to quickly identify related entries. A Chronology of Music places material into historical context; a Glossary defines key terms from the field; and a Resource Guide provides lists of books, academic journals, websites and cross-references. The multimedia digital edition is enhanced with video and audio clips and features strong search-and-browse capabilities through the electronic Reader’s Guide, detailed index, and cross references. Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, available in both multimedia digital and print formats, is a must-have reference for music and social science library collections.

Musicking

Musicking
Author: Christopher Small
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0819572241

Extending the inquiry of his early groundbreaking books, Christopher Small strikes at the heart of traditional studies of Western music by asserting that music is not a thing, but rather an activity. In this new book, Small outlines a theory of what he terms "musicking," a verb that encompasses all musical activity from composing to performing to listening to a Walkman to singing in the shower. Using Gregory Bateson's philosophy of mind and a Geertzian thick description of a typical concert in a typical symphony hall, Small demonstrates how musicking forms a ritual through which all the participants explore and celebrate the relationships that constitute their social identity. This engaging and deftly written trip through the concert hall will have readers rethinking every aspect of their musical worlds.