The sounds of development: musical representations as a(nother) source of development knowledge

Lewis, David ORCID: 0000-0003-0732-9020, Rodgers, Dennis and Woolcock, Michael (2021) The sounds of development: musical representations as a(nother) source of development knowledge. The Journal of Development Studies, 57 (8). 1397 - 1412. ISSN 0022-0388

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Abstract

The experience of development, as well as understandings of and responses to it, are uniquely rendered through popular culture generally, and popular music in particular. Music has been a medium of choice through which marginalised populations all over the world convey their (frequently critical) views, while in the Global North music has also long played a prominent (if notorious) role in portraying the plight of the South’s ‘starving millions’ as an emotional pretext for soliciting funds for international aid. We discuss the relationship between music and development in five specific domains: the tradition of Western ‘protest’ music; musical resistance in the Global South; music-based development interventions; commodification and appropriation; and, finally, music as a globalised development vernacular. We present our analyses not as definitive or comprehensive but as invitations to broaden the range of potential contributions to development debates, and the communicative modalities in and through which these debates are conducted. Doing so may lead to enhancing the relevance and coherence of development debates for a greater range of key stakeholders of development by making them more open, authentic, and compelling.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fjds20/current
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Social Policy International Development
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform M Music and Books on Music > M Music
Date Deposited:	09 Dec 2020 12:39
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/107817

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