Singing our own song: Navigating identity politics through activism in music

This work builds upon considerations of musicking that suggest processes of performing, creating, listening, and producing of music are sites for identity formation and meaning-making activities. In this project, I interviewed 20 activist-musicians about the following dimensions of identity and meaning-making in their work: (a) how they view the role of (their) music; (b) how they situate themselves in their work; and (c) what they believe are the implications of their work for music education, based on (d) their own experiences of music. I draw on Said’s counterpoint as an analytical tool to hold conflicting identities and issues in tension without false resolution. Significantly, the majority of the activist-musicians who participated in the study saw music not only as a means of identity formation, but also as a site to engage in, express, and formulate identity politics. Together, these elements have substantive implications for music education. In imagining an activist school music education, music may enable students to navigate the politics of identity, opening up possibilities to embrace, trouble, and explore the intersections of identity. This article concludes with implications for pedagogy and curriculum in school music education and the consideration of composing as a dual act—an act of formulating identity and a musical act of assertion