THE POLITICS OF MEMORY IN MUSIC EDUCATION: (RE)IMAGINING COLLECTIVE FUTURES IN PLURALIST SOCIETIES

This theoretical inquiry approaches the challenge of reflexivity in the music education profession from the perspective of a collective and social understanding of memory. While memory is typically understood as being an individualistic, psychological, and cognitive phenomenon, in this paper we argue that the perspectives of collective and social memory may be of critical assistance to music teachers and music teacher educators who are facing the problem of increasing diversity. Teachers experience mounting pressure to include a wider selection of available material from the diverse musics of the world in their curriculum. We suggest that understanding the politics of memory--how memory shapes the future and reveals our reflexive capacity in terms of our bonds to, or freedom from, the past--provides new tools and perspectives for considering diversity. Furthermore, we propose that in order to make a difference, the politics of memory require an agonistic engagement in pluralistic societies, with multiple, even conflicting, relationships to memory and time, place, and space. The article argues that a critical politics of memory is not just about combining the past and present, but about re-imagining, re-negotiating, re-working, and re-generating the collective futures of the school, its educational context, and broader society. Keywords: Politics of memory, music education, musical repertoire, social memory
INTRODUCTION When music is used in school events or functions, it is often said to be there either because 'it has always been there' or because someone in the school [...]