Formation/Cours

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Music and Politics L3

Etablissement : ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences

Langue : Anglais

Période : S6

None

This course examines the complex relations between music and politics. This is an exercise in political theory/philosophy, an attempt to see how political theorists/philosophers can think seriously about music. What kind of political object is music? How can music be genuinely political? Is there a specific relation between music and liberal-democratic ideals? What are the implications of the rise of a “cultural industry” for music? Is the distinction between elitist and popular forms of music still politically relevant? Can music be a source of political transformations? Are Beyoncé and Taylor Swift politically relevant and if so, how?

More broadly, this course will ask the following question: what happened to the way that we think about popular culture since Adorno’s radical critique of it as a form of mass standardization?

Theme covered will included: the relevance of protest songs; music and identity politics: propaganda; the politics of punk; rap and the politics of race; cultural industry and mass culture; contestation, resistance and marginality; cooptation and authenticity; art and political engagement; political emotions.