Advancing or Hindering? Exploring the Relationship Between Community Music and Cultural Policy

Description

Community music initially emerged as a form of activism within the community arts movement of the 1960s. As a beacon of social justice and cultural democracy, it aimed to support inclusive and equitable opportunities for musical participation. These central tenets are still considered critical to the practices of the field; however, the increasing pressure and dominance of democratisation policies towards arts and cultural participation have begun to cause tension with some of the traditional values and ethos. In this presentation, I will explore these tensions by discussing and exploring how current cultural policies affect
community music.

To explore these areas, I outline a research project exploring the relationship between community music and cultural policy. This project employed various methods, including critical discourse analysis and a case study of three community music programmes. Through these methods, insights are gained into the influence that cultural policymaking and funders are having on the ways that programmes are developed, delivered and evaluated, how such influences are impacting the way community musicians conceptualise and talk about their practices and the effect that this has on their relationship with participants.

Given cultural policy's continued influence within the arts and culture sector, community musicians must understand how such policies impact and interact with the field. By recognising the powerful and influential role of cultural policymaking within community music, community musicians are best placed to hold one another accountable to ensure that the influence of funding possibilities does not displace the values and central tenets of the field. This presentation aims to open up a space for discussing the relationship between community music and cultural policy and whether such relationships are a hindrance or advantage to the development and growth of the field in the 21st century.

Period	23 Jul 2024 → 26 Jul 2024
Event title	International Society for Music Education- Pre-Conference Activity- Community Music
Event type	Conference
Location	Tampere, FinlandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International