Music and Social Power in American Culture

Although many people associate the idea of “protest songs” primarily with the countercultural upheaval of the 1960s, popular music’s connection to cultural politics is much more complicated. In this course we will explore the relationship between music and social power in the United States from the antebellum period to the present. Using a combination of historical and ethnomusicological analysis, we will consider how and why music has been used for social influence in various historical moments. Topics may include 19th century campaign songs; music and abolitionism; folk ballads as a mechanism for social control; the political uses of country music; the protest songs and freedom songs of the 1960s; rock ‘n’ roll as social protest; and the cultural work of hip-hop.