Environmental protest songs and justice perspectives

2020 ◽  
pp. 102-116
Author(s):  
Judy Motion
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protest ◽  
Protest Songs

scholarly journals Transcending the moment

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-508
Author(s):  
Martin J. Power ◽  
Aileen Dillane
Keyword(s):  
Folk Song ◽  
Performance Style ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Protest Songs ◽  
Structures Of Feeling ◽  
Ordinary Person ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Traditional Structures ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
Political Songs

Abstract Our paper argues that British singer Billy Bragg performs protest songs that cleverly draw upon musical forms underpinning his positioning as a voice of, and for, the ordinary person, ultimately disenfranchised by governmental adherence to neoliberal policies. While political songs are a product of their time, many of them can also transcend that historical moment and have a longer shelf-life in terms of their capacity to inform political thinking and action. Our song(s) of choice in this paper do so not just in terms of the relevance of their ‘literal’ message but also in how they draw upon traditional structures of feeling and generic elements of folk song to underpin this sense of ‘grass-roots’ critique via a modified, acoustic ballad form and a performance style. This serves to authenticate and legitimate the singer and his message and, in turn, allows Bragg to accumulate political and cultural capital.

Labor and Industrial Protest Songs in Canada

1969 ◽  
Vol 82 (323) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Fowke
Keyword(s):  
Protest Songs

“Help Your Brother”

2018 ◽  
pp. 48-69
Author(s):  
Michael B. Silvers
Keyword(s):  
Space Time ◽  
Environmental Protest ◽  
Musical Space ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City ◽  
Deliberate Effort

This chapter examines foothills forró as a form of environmental protest, voiced through the strategic use of nostalgia, through dancing bodies and occupied spaces, and through explicit requests aimed at the government and the Brazilian populace alike. Much scholarship on foothills forró understands the genre as either a kitschy regional caricature or as an authentic channel from the city to the backlands. Instead, this chapter considers it a deliberate effort to generate sympathy and aid for northeasterners, for whom it also offered comfort and a musical space-time of their own.

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