Access and participation in traditional music in the Anglo-Irish world

Date: Thursday 18th November 2021 (Online Symposium)
Submission Date: 31st August 2021

We call for papers, presentations and panels for an online symposium on access and participation in traditional music of the Anglo-Irish world. The symposium will focus on routes into traditional and folk musics, and empirical understandings of how socio-economic and other contextual factors affect the access to, and participation in traditional musics. We also seek contributions that conceptualise ideologies of ‘folk’/’traditional’ in contemporary society that consider aspects of cultural hegemony, difference and social mobility. This symposium grows out of a growing awareness that public subsidy for traditional/folk music provision in primary, secondary and most recently at the tertiary level has been disappearing for the past two decades, and particularly under austerity. Similarly, there has been a widespread and welcome discussion of gender and race, as well as a growing awareness of various inequities in traditional music and unevenness in provision and participation across different groups in Anglo-Irish societies. Diversity is critical to a flourishing tradition, and this symposium seeks to encourage conversations about the relations between social and economic diversity and how these relate to participation in traditional musics.

We are particularly interested in papers that deal with any of the following issues in the Anglo-Irish world:

• Empirical understandings of how public interventions and publicly funded music provision has affected access and participation in traditional music and socio-economic diversity.
• Issues surrounding the relationship of cultural, social and particularly, economic capital relating to access and participation in traditional music
• Discussion of the issues and challenges faced by individuals with non-familial routes into traditional music.
• Empirical research or applied understandings around the distribution and access to public funding for traditional music, education and the effects of this on participants, teachers and learners.
• Intersectional research on how different personal and group identities have affected access and participation in traditional music.

Jointly organised by Helen Lawlor (DKIT) and Simon McKerrell (Newcastle University). We seek proposals for 20 minute papers or panels of 3 papers. Roundtable discussion proposals are also welcome. In addition to the standard 10 minute Q&A format following each paper we plan to have broader discussion sessions throughout the day.

Please submit your proposals by 31st August to [email protected]