Music as Agency

Music as Agency: Diversities of Perspectives on Artistic Citizenship focuses on the concept, application, interpretation and manifestation of Artistic Citizenship in diverse contexts. The key concepts that the book tackles are: Cultural experience, artistic practice, musical identities, equity, democracy, community, activism, resistance and empathy.

In giving an overview of aspects of the compound concept of artistic citizenship, Akuno and Westvall present the outcome of research and interrogation of practice by a global network of educator-researchers from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. The book articulates notions of artistic citizenship, coming up with the term artizenship as a derivative of the composite term. It further explains and analyses practical ways of perceiving and relating to art spaces, art practices and arts objects towards belonging, being and becoming in a global space that is disparate, polarised and often alienating, and thus responding to issues such as social justice, identity, participation and inclusion. With a focus on music, the book targets musicians, scholars, educators and enthusiasts keen on gaining a deeper understanding of how music and musicking can influence human interactions towards social integration, trust, cultural awareness and intercultural understanding.

Emily Achieng’ Akuno studied at Kenyatta University, Kenya, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, USA and Kingston University, UK. A professor of music at the Technical University of Kenya, her research focuses on music and teacher education in cultural contexts. She is editor and author of books and articles including Music Education in Africa: Concept, process and practice (Routledge, 2019). She is Past President of the International Music Council (IMC) and the International Society for Music Education (ISME). She is founding chair of the Music Education Research Group – Kenya (MERG-Kenya).

Maria Westvall is Professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) in Copenhagen and the director of CReArC (Copenhagen Centre for Research in Artistic Citizenship). Her research focuses on the sociological and artistic dimensions of music education, intercultural approaches, musical and cultural diversity, musical community practices, and migration, and she has directed several research projects on these topics. Her research is published in several books and scientific journals including Music Education Research, British Journal of Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, International Journal of Community Music, Música em perspectiva, El oído pensante, Intercultural Education, Action, Criticism & Theory for Music Education, Nordic Research in Music Education, Danish Musicology Online and the Finnish Journal of Music Education.