Fish out of water? Musical backgrounds, cultural capital, and social class in higher music education

Social Reproduction or Revolution? A Sociological Interrogation of Music Education’s Purpose and Potentials

“…Yet, merely including other musics in the curriculum (without changing the rules of the "game") has been strongly criticized, enabling us to "believe that diversity is 'properly taken care of' while, in fact, much remains to be done" (Westerlund and Karlsen 2017, 80). Although Moore (2021) does not employ Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence directly, as "the violence which is exercised upon a social agent with his or her complicity" (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, 167), descriptions of teachers intervening in students' musical trajectories to reshape them "by the structured principles of Western classical music" (Moore 2021, 191) raises critical questions as to how, and why, we impose particular value systems over others in and through music education. Yet, such instances, as in Moore's (2021) chapter when students are quite explicitly warned against "mixing musical styles" (191) or developing more balanced bimusical identities, are among more easily recognizable processes of violence, whereas others may be more subtle-as other chapters in the section explore.…”

“…Although Moore (2021) does not employ Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence directly, as "the violence which is exercised upon a social agent with his or her complicity" (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, 167), descriptions of teachers intervening in students' musical trajectories to reshape them "by the structured principles of Western classical music" (Moore 2021, 191) raises critical questions as to how, and why, we impose particular value systems over others in and through music education. Yet, such instances, as in Moore's (2021) chapter when students are quite explicitly warned against "mixing musical styles" (191) or developing more balanced bimusical identities, are among more easily recognizable processes of violence, whereas others may be more subtle-as other chapters in the section explore. It is also worth being mindful that "inclusion in the mainstream, and acceptance by dominant social groups is not the only means by which … individuals may become powerful" (Kallio 2015, 100), and that exclusion itself can serve as "a means of preserving certain practices and dimensions of existence from regulatory power, from normative violence" (Brown 1998, 314).…”

Capital, Class, Status, and Social Reproduction in Music Education: A Critical Review

“…Within The Game are many subfields, smaller games that support and extend it. In her chapter in the Handbook, Gwen Moore (2021) gives an eloquent framing for a game that is played within university music departments:…”

“…At worst, it is a strategy to veil or minimize the capitalist totality and class struggle. Gwen Moore (2021), at the end of her chapter, asks a thought-provoking question: "How can we attend to ideologies and values of the dominant musical habitus and cultural capital in the field of higher education in music, in order to break the social reproduction cycle?" (193).…”