Musical Democracy: Exploring the Power of Music in Building an Inclusive and Harmonious Society

Concert, dissonance, harmony, and, by analogy, chorus, orchestra, symphony—philosophers often employ musical metaphors to describe political processes. National anthems, military marches, and protest songs—music also marks many political events. However, music is seldom included in the repertoire of political communication. Puzzled by this omission, I began to explore various relationships between music and politics. What associations between them are suggested by these musical metaphors? Why do all existing societies have their traditional forms of music? Why is music also so prominent in the political activism of social movements? How does music contribute to processes of identity formation and community building? Does it facilitate understanding between individuals? Across cultures? Beyond language? How does it work to sustain political cultures and promote political change? Most important, how might musical practices further our under- standing of democratic politics?

The first is the distinction between reason and rhetoric or, more narrowly, philosophy and poetry. Understood as empty eloquence, mere style or, worse, manipulative speech, rhetoric is often opposed to the rigors of formal, deductive, logical, systematic, etc., argument. This opposition is part of a larger one between humanistic and scientific methods of inquiry.

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