Music rarely occurs in a political vacuum. Throughout history, music and music-making have been engaged with the political whether through their use in propaganda or political protest, or as instruments of national or factional identities. The power of music as a political force has been known since Plato, while the politics of music, ethnicity and gender play out in the media every day, and influence the ways that societies’ policies are shaped. This course explores the relationship between music and politics from Plato to the present.  A case study will be presented each week to illustrate the overarching themes of this course.

The course culminates with students working in groups preparing an application for funding for an music project, as though it were to be presented to a Federal or Territory arts or education minister, in which the students have to advocate for the importance of music and the arts in the contemporary policy landscape.

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. describe the interrelationships between music and politics from several theoretical perspectives
2. apply these theoretical perspectives to a number of specific musical cases
3. Advocate for the value of music and the arts in a formal policy setting;
4. demonstrate research, analysis, discussion and writing skills through written assessment tasks to do with music and politics

• One essay of 3000 words or equivalent (50%), [Learning Outcomes 1,2,4];
• One group research project in which, for example, an application for support for a music project is prepared for a Federal or Territory arts or education minister (50%) [learning outcomes 1-4]

A mixture of lectures, tutorials, seminars and workshops equivalent to three hours per week, plus seven hours of independent study per week.

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None

Jacques Atali Noise: the political economy of music (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1977)

Peddie, Ian (ed.) Human Rights and Popular Music, 2 vols (Surrey, Ashgate, 2011).