Music and resistance : An introduction

Resistance is a relevant topic today, driven by recent global social movements such as Black Lives Matter, fourth-wave feminism and the fight for recognition of LGBTIQ+ rights. In the academic arena, resistance has been the subject of increasing attention in disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, geography, political sciences and cultural and literary studies. In music, the notion of resistance has frequently been mobilised by popular music genres (hip-hop is a notable example) and, in general, in situations of political opposition. The relationship between music and resistance is, however, much richer and more complex. Through the study of specific cases from a variety of genres covering a broad period of time from 1900 to today, this volume analyses many types of resistance in which music has been involved, including various geographic and historical contexts, and also twentieth-century dictatorships and contemporary social movements. It asks how the relationship between music and resistance is established, and how music can be understood as an act of resistance. It also examines the meaning of resistance in musical terms and how we can determine if a piece of music in a certain time and space functioned as resistance to a power system.