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Against Populism: Music, Classification, Genre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2020

CHRISTOPHER BALLANTINE Open the ORCID record for CHRISTOPHER BALLANTINE [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

Often described as a social pathology, populism currently finds virulent expression in political movements across the world. Unlike the recognition that involves mutuality and respect, populism is typically founded on misrecognition; it pursues alterity, essentializes identity, offers ‘protection’ against the threat of hostile ‘others’. Often the social consequences are tragic. Music, however, can confirm or disrupt the way populism constructs identity. Epistemologically, genres can enable us to both understand and misunderstand our world: we can recognize ourselves (‘us’) in the genres that undergird the music we identify with, and (mis)recognize others (‘them’) in those we find alien. But genres can be undermined; they can be integrated, hybridized and directed towards more inclusive or cosmopolitan ends, thus destablilizing ontologies frozen around pre-fixed identities. I elaborate this theory, illustrating it with examples of focused genre-transgression, particularly in South African jazz, where progressive social tendencies have sought to create an integrated, cosmopolitan society.

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Articles
Information
Twentieth-Century Music , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 247 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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