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“Singing for Our Lives”: Women's Music and Democratic Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Nancy S. Love
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Abstract

Although democratic theorists often employ musical metaphors to describe their politics, musical practices are seldom analyzed as forms of political communication. In this article, I explore how the music of social movements, what is called “movement music,” supplements deliberative democrats' concept of public discourse as rational argument. Invoking energies, motions, and voices beyond established identities and institutions anticipates a different, more musical democracy. I argue that the “women's music” of Holly Near, founder of Redwood Records and Redwood Cultural Work, exemplifies this transformative power of musical sound.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , Fall 2002 , pp. 71 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by Hypatia, Inc.

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