Special Issue on Anti-Racism, Anti-Fascism, and Anti-Discrimination in and through Music Education Deadline Extended!
Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education Guest Editor: Nasim Niknafs
The violence of racial and ethnic discrimination has taken new forms throughout the world, rendering different peoples in different places as “a genus of subaltern humanity,” disposable and surplus (Mbebe 2019, 178, emphasis original). In North America, evidence of this subaltern humanity arises in the killings of Black people in the U.S. by police and local vigilantes, and the deaths of Indigenous peoples at the hands of the police in Canada, compounded by the staggering number of unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Beyond North America, Hindu nationalism policies in India have resulted in the ostracizing of Muslims. In the UK, the Windrush Generation (the children of immigrants from Commonwealth Caribbean countries who arrived in Britain between 1948 and 1971) have been wrongfully detained and deported. In Iran, systemic racism has denied Afghan refugees access to education and basic needs. World-wide, Covid-19 is disproportionately affecting historically marginalized groups. These represent but a few examples of the malignant effects of racism globally that exacerbate such contemporary global issues as terrorism, the climate crisis, and dehumanizing migratory policies (Dwyer & Bressey, 2008). Racism may easily escape critical scrutiny as a systemic problematic because it is often misidentified as an “archaic, minimal personal pathology” rather than “a private commodity whose ‘circulation’ is de-regulated” (Garner, 2016, p. 166). An increasing number of writers and scholars have pointed to this shift of discourse in racism and its influence on educational practices. They caution against the dangers of implicit racial indoctrinations, color-blindness, tolerance, privileged and polite activism, and political correctness that circumvent engaging with the very real, excruciating, and material complexities of racial injustices and discriminatory practices (e.g. Bradley 2007, 2015, Fleras, 2014, Hess, 2018). Some scholars in music education contend that music teaching and learning at all levels of education from early childhood to higher education tacitly uphold white supremacy, oppressive ideologies, and fascistic forms of community (Koza, 2008; Bradley, 2009, 2017).
In the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others by police and vigilantes in the U.S. in 2020, anti-racist, anti-fascist, and anti-discriminatory movements in arts education and education departments have begun to emerge (e.g., MayDay Group’s Statement of Solidarity and Commitment to Anti-Racism, Open Letter on Antiracist Actions Within SMT, and #ThisIsArtSchool). This special issue of ACT invites manuscripts from all geographies and cultural backgrounds to scrutinize and critique racism, fascism, and discriminatory practices in relation to music education at all levels. Possible themes may include but are not limited to:
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personal stories, autobiographies, and testimonies interpreted through critical race theory, critical theory and pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy, multi- or inter-culturalism, and/or other perspectives,
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actionable theories of antiracism, anti-fascism, and anti-discrimination in and through music education,
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anti-racist and anti-discriminatory research practices in music education,
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antiracist public policies and music education,
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moral and ethical grounds and the imperatives for music education and music educators in relation to racial injustices,
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online and offline antiracism, anti-fascism, and anti-discrimination activism in music education and,
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curricular changes demanding an overhaul of hegemonic music education practices.
The submission deadline is March 1, 2021. For submission information, please click here.