Sonic Rebellions: Sound And Social Justice PDF 2020-2022

INTRODUCTION Wanda Canton In 2020, the world fell to a quiet standstill. COVID-​19 left streets and...

INTRODUCTION Wanda Canton In 2020, the world fell to a quiet standstill. COVID-​19 left streets and neighbourhoods locked down in silence, interspersed with conspicuous coughs and the sighing iteration: ‘you’re on mute.’ Relieved by momentary ruptures of doorstep clapping for keyworkers and balcony concerts, our ordinary lives so full of sound became morbidly, sonically bereft. Our mouths muffled beneath masks, loved ones were comforted through windows, our speech dislocated through the partition of Zoom calls. We began to wonder if life would ever be the same. In May of that year, George Floyd was murdered by police officer, Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, US. Suddenly, the world began to shout and cry, his final words carried over the voices of thousands of people and the Black Lives Matter movement, ‘we can’t breathe.’ Cities and towns were engulfed by protests and unrest as people poured into the vacant streets, demanding an end to deaths in police custody. Less than two years later, Chris Kaba, a Black 24-​year-​old rapper and soon-to-be father, was shot dead by British police on the streets of London. The sonic paradox of 2020 Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. had blatant acoustic dimensions but its conflicts of quiet/​noise were by no means unique, albeit extreme. As the sounds of Kaba’s family’s grief pierced across Parliament Square, the crowd stood in solemn, unmoving silence. ‘Sound is movement’ (LaBelle, 2018: 95), which passes not only between human subjects, but transcends geographical, political, and cultural borders, adapting to localised contexts. In 2021, Indian farmers led a noisy tractor convoy parade to protest Prime Minister Modi’s agricultural ‘reforms,’ which would see small farmers ostracised from a monopolised market. In Iran, 2022, following the killing of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was detained for wearing an ‘improper’ hijab, women and girls led protests DOI: 10.4324/9781003361046-1 Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  2 Wanda Canton in the streets, amplifying their collective voice. Hundreds have lost their lives during the protests, with 14,000 people detained in the first few months, and some, including rappers and active social media users, threatened with the death penalty (Parent and Habibiazad, 2022), the ultimate attempt to silence dissent. The UK trialled its new emergency text alert, sending a siren-​like message to all mobile phones in 2023 with many comparing it to the ‘four-​ minute warning’ system conceived in the Cold War, warning of imminent nuclear attack. Explosive bombs have continued to drop across Ukraine and recently again in Palestine. Violence, and its sonic dimensions, is a global emergency. Our changing acoustic landscapes are both natural (non-​human) and man-​made, with the crushing floods and blazing fires of climate change giving sound to our struggling environment. Two-​thirds of bird species in North America face extinction including the wood thrush, a well-​known songbird (Holden, 2019). The symbolism of this threatened songbird is representative of this book’s intention: in locating the suppression of sound or acoustic oppression, there are pockets of resistance that can be found and, ultimately, hope for a more just world. One in which the songbird, metaphorical or otherwise, lives on. Sonic Rebellions asks, ‘what is the relationship between sound and social justice?’ Two common themes emerge throughout this book, discussed further in the following sections. Firstly, we champion the rebellions of those who may not meet the ideal activist type, nevertheless finding agency and voice through their localised sonic practices. For example, rappers and social media users or neighbourhood walks and football stadiums may not be typically expected to facilitate political discussion yet become key players and sites in demanding change. We also recognise the contributions beyond the practical making of sound; listening repeatedly emerges as a key intervention. These actors, sound-​makers, and listeners are shaping and reflecting physical as much as sonic architectures, particularly as it pertains to public space. Sound then, has a spatial capacity. Within the context of social justice, this can be a tool with which existing borders and exclusions can be challenged; whether public appearance and commentary, freedom of movement, the Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. online public, and sites of political possibility. These spaces may not have been fully realised yet. Several chapters were written whilst the themes and practices they are concerned with developed in real-​time, thus they respond to ongoing debates. If listening has the potential to be an intervention, perhaps reading does too. As space is conceptual before tangible, the imagination of you, reader, is valued as interpreting the ideas within this book and developing them in your own practices and fields. The authors are artists, academics, and/​or activists. They speak to a range of disciplines across the humanities, arts, and social sciences, whilst many apply their own lived experience and personal reflections. The book is international in scope, with chapters spanning Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  Introduction 3 across the UK, US, Greece, France, and Algeria. Within these localities, we pay particular attention to the divisions of racialised, gendered, or class communities, and the complex repercussions of neoliberalism. In May 2022, Sonic Rebellions held its inaugural two-​day symposium at the University of Brighton (UK), supported by the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics, and Ethics (CAPPE) alongside the Brighton Fringe Festival. Founded by Wanda Canton, the event was conceived as an opportunity to innovate the traditional conference style of spoken papers. Delegates were encouraged to utilise creative approaches in their delivery, with a preference for experiential or interactive facilitation. Workshops provided a space for participants to explore sound-​ walking, collaging, mixtape making, and listen to audio installations or seminars delivered through music. Genres included reggae, hip-​hop, Jungle,1 UK Drill, Grime, electronic dance music and djembe drumming. Emphasis was consistent across these varied mediums as to their accessible and inclusive methods, highlighting the capacity for sonic methods to overcome attempts to suppress and obstruct the connections between people. Keynote speaker, rapper and activist, Kareem ‘Lowkey’ Dennis concluded the conference with the take-​away message: ‘resistance is fertile, not futile.’ This book features a selection of the contributors to the May conference either as authors or peer reviewers. They represent a wide range of research disciplines, and many chapters are written by early career or independent researchers, who often face obstacles and disadvantages in publishing. Some chapters are inaugural publications of research projects, including doctoral work, whilst others are developed by creative practitioners. The process of writing this book was designed to reflect the ethos of the project. Over the initial months, monthly online sessions were held for everyone to hold space together for half a day, sharing ideas or writing together. The spirit of collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking was evident at the conference, so offered a foundation with which the isolation typically experienced in the writing process might be mitigated. It was also intended as an opportunity to develop camaraderie for the duration of the project. Throughout the journey Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. there were personal losses, theses submitted, new projects started, and others finished. Some balanced music tours, caring responsibilities, health challenges, multiple jobs, and/​or teaching. Each chapter will have had its own individual journey, a culmination of learning, experimentation, and challenges, with an invitation that it may play a part in yours. This book was also written at a time of national crisis for UK Universities, with rolling strikes and boycotts impacting contributors across the board both as authors and reviewers. At the University of Brighton alone, where Sonic Rebellions was founded, mass redundancies were announced in May 2023 leading to catastrophic levels of stress and concern for the present and future viability of the University and its community. The use of sound has Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  4 Wanda Canton FIGURE 0.1 Conference poster, designed by Wanda Canton. been central to opposing the funding cuts, be it defiant voices in meetings with Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. senior management, to rolling, chanting, singing protests, and collaborative discussions on picket lines. It has also meant that many contributors across the board in different institutions were working under the enormous financial pressure of 100% pay deductions for national action short of a strike, uncertainty about imminent employment, and mounting workloads. Indefinite industrial action has left vibrant, bustling campuses eerily quiet. Leaked correspondence between university management teams has revealed an explicit desire to be punitive towards unionised staff, with some stating ‘I’d prefer pain along the way’ in reference to massive pay deductions (Meighan, 2023). Other management teams have favoured absolute silence, as though there is not an addressable other requiring a response. Hence Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  Introduction 5 the term ‘deafening silence,’ the lack of sound can be as penetrating as the disregarded noise of protest and community. The continued commitment of authors and reviewers to this book demonstrates the passion and dedication of many researchers, who are forced to navigate high levels of productivity with reduced resources and often without pay. The current landscape for higher education has also highlighted an ideological threat against research in humanities, social sciences, and the arts, which are disproportionately facing closures of courses, research centres, and lectureships. This includes many of the disciplines central to this book. These research areas do not always align with neoliberal expectations of productivity and are more likely to criticise inequities than support budgetary or governmental agendas. Indeed, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared his intention to ‘get far tougher’ on universities which ‘are not producing the goods’ and ‘full of, you know, people who don’t vote for us anyway’ (Siddle, 2023). The dismantling of research opportunities and working/​living conditions for researchers poses a very real threat to the disciplines explored throughout this text and the resources available for projects like Sonic Rebellions. Whilst there is criticism of academia as self-​ superior or too distant from the ‘real world,’ Sonic Rebellions consistently considers empirical application. In other words, whether, or how, conceptual theory can enable us to better support and understand social movements and change. Given the professional and personal practices of many of the authors and conference participants, some will have been inspired by the sonic medium, or actions for justice; turning to theory secondarily. Feminist theorist, bell hooks (1991) acknowledges how personal narrative can contextualise the motivations for theory and analysis. She writes of theory as a mode of healing; from the pain and suffering of injustice, which is given a voice through conceptual discussion. For hooks, theory is a social practice. She is clear that neither theory nor academia is empowering by default and can be used to create hierarchy or divisions of prestige. This includes gatekeeping as to standards of intellectual discussion, overly convoluted and jargonistic language, and narrowly traditional thematic considerations. This project has sought to Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. challenge what is discussed within academia, centring contemporary practices from music to social media, and to widen the scope of participation through the use of creative styles and digestible language. The authors were encouraged to approach their text creatively, inspired by Katherine McKittrick’s (2021) decolonising text, not only to embrace non-​literary forms such as music, but to consider how these experiences are shared. Whilst some chapters take a more established or traditional academic format, others interweave a range of materials, including personal narrative, images, scores, and interactive suggestions to experience. Although this work is a written excursion in the Sonic Rebellions project, readers are invited to ‘feel-​with,’ to use McKittrick’s term (2021: 70), and to feel involved in sharing ideas. This at times includes Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  6 Wanda Canton addressing you directly, as an offer to extend and continue the conversations herein. Sonic: Audio Non-​activism Activism is the intentional use of doing or not doing, making or not making something, which changes the world, environment, or behaviours in some way (Barber, 1984). It could be a campaign, event, or performance (in its broadest terms). For example, Environment Activism may include the intentional use of direct action to advocate for environmental protections. As this book developed, there were discussions as to whether it advocates a framework of ‘audio activism.’ In light of the earlier definition, audio activism suggests the deliberate use of sound-​based practices for political purposes. However, such a term would contradict the first key finding of this work: that non-​political agency is still political, that change is not always conscious or intentional. This does not seek to challenge the proactive and deliberate nature of activism, rather to expand the scope of actors effecting socio-​political change. Authors recognise the significance of practices by those not commonly perceived to be activists and the spaces they occupy. For example, Prosser considers the acoustic observations of local citizens, Canton proposes young contemporary rappers as producing the new avant-​ garde, Zacharek and Canton explore the use of social media by young women and girls, Topa considers the affective reactions of theatre audiences. Wilford notes the political significance of Algeria’s football stadiums and Cantor-​Stephens reflects on moments of musical solidarity in the Franco–​ British border camps. Secondly, an action may be centred on sound without this being informed by specifically sonic politics. For example, the company Shell’s annual general meeting was disrupted in May 2023 by protestors interrupting speakers and collectively singing a protest song; ‘go to hell, Shell’ to the tune of Percy Mayfield’s Hit the Road, Jack (Jolly, 2023). The action was clearly intended to intervene and used noise or song to do so, but this was just one strategy Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. in a varied and creative movement, which utilises a number of other tactics, which may or may not use sound. To focus only on the sonic aspects or audio activism may risk dismissing the greater context and could make assumptions of the protesters’ decisions. Another interpretation of audio activism could be the use of political action to elevate acoustic methodologies/​issues. This could, for example, concern politics of discourse and speech, whereby attention is called to those who dominant or are absent from acoustic spheres. Fields such as decoloniality critique privileged noisemakers and regulators but do not reduce their scope to consider only how colonial mentalities operate at a linguistic or sonic level. The eclectic forms of sound explored throughout this work are demonstrative Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  Introduction 7 of LaBelle’s (2018) sonic agency within which ‘individuals and collectivities creatively negotiate systems of domination, gaining momentum and guidance through listening and being heard, sounding and unsounding particular acoustics of assembly and resistance’ (p4). Sonic Rebellions considers how socio-​political subjectivity is enacted and expressed through sound. However, the interdisciplinary focus may mean that research designations could be better described as Audio Criminology, Acoustic Politics, Sonic Philosophy, and so on. This would maintain the primacy of the existing discipline, whilst demonstrating an exploration through sound, which enables the acoustic to be considered at both an ontological and epistemological level. Feld (2015) describes acoustemology as the meeting of acoustics and epistemology; what is known through sound, both in producing and listening to it. The latter reveals a sonic agent who plays as crucial a role: listeners. Projects like the international Listening Biennial, founded in 2021, draw attention to listening as an intervention. The work of its artistic director, Brandon LaBelle, is referenced throughout this book and has been instrumental in conceptualising sonic agency. As philosophical cliches have queried (if a tree falls…), sound is a bilateral interaction (at least), for the speaker, musician, sound-​creator relies on being heard, and this listening may be a key political act itself (see Prosser on soundscapes or Canton on UK Drill). That is, sound as a communicative act suggests a site of mediation or struggle between at least two subjects. Listeners may be critics or fans of what they hear, and they may or may not participate in the sound directly. This contributes to listening’s capacity to be democratic and equitable, as politics is not simply finding common interests but navigating conflict and difference (Bickford, 1996). Perhaps, like the diversity of sound-​ creators discussed throughout this book, listeners can include readers, who may be limited in responding sonically due to its written form, but nonetheless engage and respond. Many of the chapters herein offer exercises for the reader to practice; or draw upon popular media or technologies with which readers might consider further engaging with or making themselves. Sound is increasingly considered in participatory research as a method Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. with which to engage the communities it concerns (Woodland and Vachon, 2023). This is reflected in the methodological decisions of authors such as Prosser and Cantor-​Stephens, whose use of music, or listening, is central to developing rapport and insight from the communities they centre. Other chapters do not prioritise participatory research to create new data, rather listen to what already exists (see Canton; Zacharek and Canton; Wilford). This may be a conscious decision not to duplicate the sounds a community already makes on their own terms and time. Although research is increasingly centred on participation, often with good reason, such as avoiding the ivory tower of academia, some projects may ethically seek to avoid superseding how communities already engage with sound (sonic Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  8 Wanda Canton epistemes). Indeed, communities should have the right not to participate, without compromising being heard. The use of participatory methods in some cases may, if inadvertently, disregard an existing sound practice and elevate the researcher’s idea of what something should sound like. This is not to suggest that participatory methods are colonial, indeed the communities being discussed should have a right of reply to research. However, as participation is increasingly a requisite for commissioned projects, there is a risk of colonising sound practices by extracting them from their organic use to meet the priorities or language of academic research. As Feld (2015) notes, acoustemology should neither be sonocentric. This suggests that the way in which knowledge is produced and experienced should consider other factors at play, beyond the acoustic. For example, Prosser emphasises the significance of diversity in listening experiences and how listening may be impacted by or intersect with other sensory forms (like sight and touch) and power dynamics, including colonial contexts. Again, this suggests that a label of audio activism may be too limited for the scope of the projects considered here. Rebellions: Sonic Justice Sonic Rebellions questions how sound is used to further or obstruct justice. Social justice is not easy to define and may be contested within any given school of thought including psychology, education, social policy, and philosophy, among others (Shriberg et al., 2008; Reisch, 2002). The subjective nature of justice is evident, if you will, in issues of criminal justice wherein some advocate for carceral practices to uphold justice, and others deem criminalisation and incarceration as an injustice in of itself. However, there are some shared sentiments in regards the authors’ conceptualisations of justice. While some are explicitly concerned with neoliberalism, others critique the infrastructures that uphold it. As Zacharek and Canton explain, by way of Foucault, there is no central institution of power; rather it is dispersed and reiterated through a range of discursive and social methods Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. which entrench specific expressions of power and dominance. There is a consistent critique throughout this work of policing: as an institution, of migration, of public and communal space, and cultural practices. Policing is conceptualised as a tool of cultural regulation and control rather than solely a profession, enacted by state and individual actors. This work finds therefore, that neither power nor resistance is limited to institutional behaviours; the policing of culture, power and rebelling for change can be realised across micro/​macro levels. Given our centrality of sound, our interests may be better described as sonic justice, which recognises both how life is organised by sonic hegemonies but also how it can be changed. Social justice is frequently conceptualised Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  Introduction 9 throughout this book as concerning space, or in LaBelle’s (2018) terms, unlikely publics, which operate within day-​ to-​ day relationships rather than mass movements. Many of the practices explored throughout can be individually exercised, and do not require political or technological specialism. Chapters 1 through 5 consider practices and music forms in their capacity to be easily accessible or available by creators or audiences. This includes forms of listening emphasised as an embodied experience. They also refer to readily available technology including social media and community resources. However, there is consideration of the strength of collective action, which recognises how localised events can impact a broader landscape by amplifying sound to challenge the exclusivity and oppressive regulation of public space. Such space is vital to conceptualising the configurations within which sonic agents are produced and sustained. That is, an acoustic ecology regulates or allows different subjectivities to exist or be heard (LaBelle, 2021). This is notably significant in cases where certain groups or demographics refuse to be silenced by existing policies and practices, which serve to prevent or obstruct them from public space. Chapters 6 and 7 consider the use of culturally and context specific music to advocate for civil and human rights. They also demonstrate the potential of music to build international solidarity. Katherine McKittrick, who has long inspired the Sonic Rebellions project, explains: Musical subversion is, importantly, tied to the development and legitimation of new modes of social kinship relations, reciprocal exchanges that do not replicate colonial heterosexual family figurations or individualist models but, rather, establish networks that collectively rebel. (McKittrick, 2021: 163) Music is certainly a key interest throughout this book, although it is argued that other sonic methods are equally valuable. Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. Chapter Overview The chapters in this book can be read as per the interests of the reader, in isolation or in conversation. It is hoped that attention to one methodology, theme, or context will pique curiosity to explore the remaining chapters which perhaps touch on something you may not have considered before. In parts, authors will refer to other chapters of relevance throughout the book, demonstrating that across different specialisms, we explore and think in collaboration or dialogue, noting points of alignment with authors of other disciplines. Prosser’s opening chapter offers listening exercises addressed to and with the reader. These reflective practices may be incorporated or used to inform a Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  10 Wanda Canton foundation with which you can engage with the remaining chapters. Through her experimentation of participatory and reflective listening, including in the context of a written chapter, Prosser invites readers to directly experience her doctoral work listening-​with (Prosser’s term), in the context of gentrification. For example, she notes the sounds of scaffolding and construction as acoustic signifiers of the changing seaside towns of the UK south coast, more acutely pronounced following the silence of the 2020 pandemic lockdowns. Building on Dylan Robinson’s (2020) critique of ‘hungry listening,’ Prosser champions a decolonising approach to listening which, whilst acknowledging the relative privilege of her participants, prioritises listening diversity and choice in the production and sharing of knowledge. Prosser’s reflections upon the class and racial dimensions of public space aligns with a concurring theme throughout this book as to how acoustic architectures reflect socio-​political inequalities. Kaur also reflects upon her doctoral work, at a youth club in East London. She explores the production of rap music, particularly Grime, in the context of austerity policies and according to the commercial opportunities provided by community services. Kaur supports the description of rappers as organic intellectuals, who represent a socio-​political underclass even if their lyrical content is less obviously so. However, examining the way in which public funding influences rap cultures, she notes how youth centres central to artistic development have been subject to neoliberal agendas and financial cuts, disproportionately impacting marginalised young people who rely on these services for access to technology and music production. Subsequently, the priorities of youth centres shifted to crime prevention and rap programmes were co-​opted into behaviour management. Exploring a particular youth centre’s record label, Kaur argues that young rappers engaged with music programmes and increasingly subject to entrepreneurial ambitions and commercial productivity rather than self-​ expression as a value in of itself. ‘Keeping it real,’ in popular rap parlance, has diverted to ‘making it.’ Kaur therefore departs from the general consideration of how the sonic turns rebellious, instead problematising how forms which may have initially emerged as subversive, are increasingly commodified or adapted into Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. neoliberal frameworks. Contributing to this book’s interest in rap music, Canton turns from Grime to UK Drill. By reconceptualising the subgenre as an avant-​garde intervention, she critiques the ongoing criminalisation and censorship of the music and its artists. Drawing upon the use of every-​day materials, a violence within and to language, and the aesthetic of masks and balaclavas, she compares UK Drill to the post-​war Dada art movement. However, as a predominantly Black medium, racialised artists are not afforded the same artistic licence as their former, White Dada counterparts. The creative decisions of rappers are socially perceived as literal, rather than metaphorically or symbolically violent. The Black avant-​garde is therefore deemed dangerous and threatening, accused of Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  Introduction 11 causing, rather than representing or mirroring social and community conflict, as Canton argues. She outlines the political and policing context within which UK Drill emerged, substituting the literal war protested by Dadaists for the historic and ongoing struggle against racism and Police2 brutality. Completing the book’s consideration of accessible technologies, Zacharek and Canton propose that the social media app, TikTok, has played host to memetic feminism in their words. Following the recent surge of so-​called ‘alpha male’ podcasters and rhetoric, women and girls have been quick to parody them on the same platforms misogynists seek to dominate. The authors highlight how misogynist speech via podcasts such as Fresh & Fit and Tate Speech are not reserved to the fringes of the internet but lead to serious ramifications, including allegations of human trafficking and abuse. They cite Foucault to explain how social media is used to promote patriarchal attitudes, by repeating and consolidating discursive practices which aim to naturalise and legitimise hegemonic masculinity. However, women and girls on TikTok have used mocking spoofs, reappropriated the speech of alpha podcasters, and utilised facial filters which draw comparisons to drag. These humorous memes ridicule the alphas, and, by evoking laughter and joy, they disarm the violence and monopoly of misogynist ideology and social media platforms. Topa turns to the use of sound in theatrical productions. More specifically, the acousmatic: sound whose source is not seen. This, she argues, is a deliberate strategy of neoliberal governance to induce a continuous state of anxiety. She notes the European debt crisis, drawing attention to the perpetration of economic devastation by faceless institutions, which obscures accountability. A 2010 Greek production, Cinemascope, stages an apocalyptic Athens, demanding its audience use headphones and listen to the narration of a hidden voice. Topa draws on film theorist and composer, Michel Chion to demonstrate how this acousmatic voice is used to instil knowledge, control, and hierarchy. In total crisis however, like Cinemascope’s portrayal of the end of the world, power becomes futile. Topa refers to an impasse or gap, exposing the ultimate limits of authority and within which Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. modes of resistance can manifest. She explores the use of ventriloquism as demonstrating how acousmatic sound can turn on itself, through dislocation and deadness, subverting vocal or corporeal limits and subsequently forming theatrical methods of resistance: the staging of survival. Wilford outlines the Hirak (‘movement’) protests in Algeria, with 800,000 people marching through Algiers in February 2019 against Bouteflika’s regime. He opens by recalling the interjection of Torki, a young man who contradicted a reporting journalist, proclaiming ‘remove them all!’ Wilford highlights Torki’s use of local Darija Arabic as a linguistic rebellion, his demand echoing across broadcasts and social media, inducing debate as to Algerian rights. Mapping Algeria’s anti-​colonial and post-​colonial periods, Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  12 Wanda Canton Wilford highlights how musicians and poets have taken a leading role in resistance movements but have subsequently been targets of violence including the murder of outspoken musicians throughout the 1990s. This threat to life has moved the contemporary, anti-​authoritarian Hirak protests into Algeria’s football stadiums, whereby the crowd protects the identification of individuals. Whilst several chapters herein explore the creation of public space as bolstering visibility, Wilford demonstrates how public space can also be used to anonymise, at both visible and acoustic levels; providing an example of Topa’s acousmatic rebellion. He contrasts this with Algerian Andalusi performances on international stages and explicitly political rap, which, whilst not concealing the identity of performers, acts as a staging of solidarity, subsequently working to unite North African audiences within and outside of Algeria. The final chapter closes with Cantor-​Stephens’ interweaving of personal narrative and text scores for readers. Like Prosser’s interactive style, she invites readers to perform or reflect upon migrant rights and borders by following the scores. Discussing her work as a music practitioner, Cantor-​ Stephens underscores (to emphasise and to provide actual scores) the role of music in broadening the restrictive space of the Franco–​British border. Reflecting on her observations between 2015 and 2023 in the Calais refugee camps, she argues that borders, which extend beyond simple or coherent physical boundaries, create a Certain Human’s Land, as she names it. That is, they are states or spaces of exception via Agamben, where rights are unevenly distributed by states and authorities. Music becomes a central vehicle for solidarity and humanity in these spaces. She highlights the significance of spontaneous gatherings, loosely comparing its ability to connect, protest and offer escapism, to reggae sound systems. She recites lyrics, both political or narrative in nature, by residents of the refugee camps, to elevate their stories, noting how music contributes to the recognition of individuals and peoples, particularly where they are otherwise dehumanised by oppressive policing and immigration practices. She finishes with an invitation to the reader to reflect upon their own agency and listening practices, which well concludes Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. this book. Conclusion Sonic Rebellions conceptualises the use of sound by explicitly and non-​ explicitly political actors, which shapes the sonic architectures used to regulate and police social life. Social justice (or perhaps sonic justice) is conceived as a collective, spatial action which opposes neoliberalism and its infrastructural arms. This book intends to develop and widen the discussions at our inaugural conference, with an invitation for you, reader, to participate. Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.  Introduction 13 References Barber, B. (1984) Strong Democracy: Politics as a Way of Living. In B. Barber. Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. California and London: University of California Press. Bickford, S. (1996) The Dissonance of Democracy: Listening, Conflict, and Citizenship. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. Feld, S. (2015) Acoustemology. In D. Novak and M. Sakakeeny (eds) Keywords in Sound. Durham and London: Duke University Press. pp. 12–​21. Holden, E. (2019) Two-​thirds of bird species in North America could vanish in climate crisis. Guardian, 10 Oct, available at: www.theg​uard​ian.com/​envi​ronm​ ent/​2019/​oct/​10/​bird-​spec​ies-​ext​inct​ion-​north-​amer​ica-​clim​ate-​cri​sis. 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(2022) Rapper who protested over death of Mahsa Amini faces execution in Iran. Guardian, 11 Nov, available at: www.theg​uard​ ian.com/​glo​bal-​deve​lopm​ent/​2022/​nov/​11/​rap​per-​who-​protes​ted-​over-​death-​of-​ mahsa-​amini-​faces-​execut​ion-​in-​iran. Accessed 19 June 2023. Reisch, M. (2002) Defining social justice in a socially unjust world. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 83: 343–​354. Shriberg, D., Bonner, M., Sarr, B.J., Walker, A.M., Hyland, M., and Chester, C. (2008) Social justice through a school psychology lens: definition and applications. School Psychology Review, 37: 453–​468. Copyright © 2024. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. Siddle, J. (2023) Rishi Sunak vowed to get tough on universities as they’re full of non-​Tory voters. Mirror, 1 July, available at: www.mir​ror.co.uk/​news/​polit​ics/​ rishi-​sunak-​told-​meet​ing-​hed-​30370​275. Accessed 13 July 2023. Woodland, S. and Vachon, W. (2023) Sonic Engagement: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Community Engaged Audio Practice. Oxon: Routledge. Notes 1 Throughout this work, capitals will be given to some genres of music to distinguish it as a proper noun (Jungle) rather than the common noun (jungle). 2 A capitalised Police refers to the institution as opposed to the verb to police. Sonic Rebellions : Sound and Social Justice, edited by Wanda Canton, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=31202632. Created from jhu on 2024-11-07 19:21:13.