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Music as an agent of social change
Music and society
Music and society
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A social movement is loosely defined as a group action that focuses upon specific political or social issues with the objective of social change. Throughout history these acts of social change have shaped the world we know today, this course has highlighted many of these influential movements and there uses of popular culture. Which is why I agree that social movements in the 20th century have successfully used popular culture not just to fight gender discrimination, but also to draw attention to many other diverse movements. However I also hold the opinion that popular culture in itself can be very detrimental to social movements and the messages behind them. Throughout this critical analysis I hope to demonstrate the influence of popular culture on social movements discussing both its strengths and weaknesses. To start I will focus on the strengths of popular culture by discussing the suffrage movement which used theatre successfully as a platform for awareness and discussion on inequality of women. This movement used many forms of popular culture …show more content…
Cohen (2002) outlines that even though popular culture can be used to bring awareness there is also the continuing connotations that follow each medium. For example, folk music being labelled with the stereotype as “hippy” music. Another aspect of music being used as a platform for social change is the idea of commercialization. Commercialization of a song or genre can result I the transition of an impactful song addressing issues into a fame song due to popularity. A great example of this is the recent song written by Macklemore – Thrift Shop. This songs original purpose was to address the issue with consumerism and westernized values. However it caught wave online and quickly lost its value and became a “hit” song simply due to its mass spread; sadly not for its intended
Throughout history, social movements have continuously formed because of a person who had the courage to stand up against the injustice they witnessed in every day live. When I was a child, I remember feeling as if it takes a superhero-like person to start a social movement. However, I have found that through the use of social media today, any person with a passion for making a change can spark a social movement. Social movements are a powerful way to help people believe that their voice matters and they should stand up for what they believe in. Before the advancement of technology, it took a lot longer for social movements to become prominent in society’s media outlets because of the difficulties of not having enough time in one’s life to
This movement which was inspired by the ideologies of courageous women and fueled by their enthusiasm and sacrifice is often unacknowledged by most historians in the chronicles of American History. Today the movement is often misunderstood as a passive, white upper class, naive cause. But a deeper study would reveal that the women’s suffrage movement was the one that brought together the best and brightest women in America, which not only changed the lives of half the citizens of United States but also changed the social attitudes of millions of Americans.
In conclusion It has become clear to me through studying theses texts that the counterculture movement of the 1960’s was one of great importance, without it we wouldn’t live in the society we do today and yet so many of the ideals and goals of the movement were not achieved. Western society is consumed by consumerism and the entrapments of everyday working life. There is still oppression and war rampant many countries: North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Uzbekistan, have been named as having the lowest standards for both political rights and civil liberties by political watchdog organisations such as Freedom House. Although it seems that we have come a long way, I am not entirely convinced that the counterculture movement was a success.
The sociologist Emile Durkeim saw social movements as the result of “anomie”, a societal pathology or social disorganization, described as the “madding crowd”. But in his analysis, Sydney Tarrow approached the concept of successful social movements as “collective challenges, based on common purposes and social solidarities, in sustained interaction with elites, opponents, and authorities”. The question addressed in this essay is not to draw an analysis of what is a social movement, but rather to explain what make these groups of action reach favourable outcomes of their specific political or social issues in a democratic society. For that purpose, feminist movements from the 20th century up to now in France are perfect examples of growing social
Over the past couple of years, I have become increasingly aware of a fast growing social movement that greatly impacts my life on a personal level. Reading further into the text, we learn about social integrati...
(Turner and Killian 1987) cited in (Diani 1992, p. 4) define social movements as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or organisation of which it is part. As a collectivity a movement is a group with indefinite and shifting membership and with leadership whose position is determined more by informal response of adherents than by formal procedures for legitimizing authority”. Turner and Killian regard a social movement as a peculiar kind of collective behavior that is contrasted to regularity and institutional behavior. Additionally, Turner believes that social movements do not necessarily coincide with movement organisations, although these organisations can carry out a large part of the movement tasks and it is often help to control and speak for movements (Diani 1992).
American popular culture is quite serious because we find the “voices” that write, play, film, photograph, dance and explain our American history. George Lipitz notes that historians can learn a lot about the process of identity and memory in the past and present by deciphering the messages contained in popular culture forms such as films, television and music. As stated by George Lipsitz, people can either work for the economy and state, and against the population who take in the messages or they can work in a positive way as memories of the past and hopes for the future.
Researchers classify social movements according to the type of change they seek (Aberle, 1966, Cameron, 1966, Blumer, 1969, as cited in Macionis, 2007). According to John Macionis, a social movement is when people commonly band together to create an organized activity that encourages or discourages social change (Macionis, 2008). In the case of this radical society, Hippies were typically ...
Popular culture is often dismissed as frivolous, unimportant or simply mindless entertainment, both by media critics and by academics. However, it is important to examine and think critically about popular culture and what it can tell us about the society that we live in. In the specific case of the relationship between gender and popular culture, popular culture is informed by the way gender is structured and the structure of gender is, in part, reinforced by popular culture.
The Effects of Popular Culture on Society Popular Culture is music, dance, theatre, film,T.V., poetry and Art which is enjoyed by a wide group of people. Some people would argue that popular culture in the 1960's cause harm. Other people however argued that other factors brought harm and change to society. Some people would argue that music would cause harm because of the lyrics in pop songs. Lyrics like 'Lets spend the night together' by The Rolling Stones, influenced young people to have casual sex.
There are many ways to define popular culture. Many individuals have grappled with the question what is popular culture? And how to critically analyze and deconstruct the meanings. Looking at the root words of popular culture is where to begin. Raymond Williams states ‘popular’ means: “well liked by many people" or “culture actually made for the people themselves (Storey, p.5). This is part with the word ‘culture’ combine to look at how the two words have been connect by theoretical work within social and historical context. John Storey approaches popular culture in six categories, they are as followed: “Popular culture is simply culture that is widely favoured or well liked by many people”, Popular culture is “the culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture”, Popular culture is “mass culture”, “Popular culture is the culture that originates from ‘the people.” and “Popular culture as a site of struggle
Time is at a premium to take popular culture more seriously as a terrain of academic inquiry and ensuring a significant change in the outlooks of people at large turning it into more of established discipline. Conceptual barriers between so-called high and low culture have broken down, accompanying an explosion in scholarly interest in popular culture, which encompasses all diverse media. The question whether popular culture can actually resist dominant ideology, or even contribute to social change, is much more difficult to answer. A conscious effort by all can not only bring a positive change in attitude and ideas in relation to discrimination, but make huge social changes for a better world in the days to come.
In the contemporary society, popular culture represents the emerging lifestyles, fashions, values, as well as customs that the mainstream population follows without hesitation and with loyalty. It embraces a blend of philosophies, opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, and imageries, besides various forms of events that specific groups of individuals adopt in the society. Popular culture plays a significant role in shaping the way people think or perceive things by offering them a unique interpretation of something that they may eventually like. In this digital age, some of the popular culture known today takes account of television programs watched by many people, the numbers of individuals who currently use the internet constantly as the best means
Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change” (John Podhoretz). It encompasses the advertisements we see on T.V, the clothes we wear, the music we listen too, and it’s the reason Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar yet. It defines and dictates the desires and fears of the mainstream members of society; and it is so ingrained into our lives that it has become as natural as breathing. Moreover, adults never even bat an eyelash at all the pop culture and advertising that surrounds them since it has become just another part of everyday life. Pop culture is still somewhat seen as entertainment enjoyed by the lower class members of society; but pop culture standards change over time. A notable example of this is the sixteenth century author, William Shakespeare, since his works were considered pop culture, entertainment that could be enjoyed by everyone, but now they are considered literary classics. While pop culture encompasses most aspects of our lives, its influence is most obvious through each generations reaction to media,
It incorporates the daily interactions, needs, desires and cultural moments that make up the everyday lives of the society. It finds expression in day to day practices such as cooking, fashion, newspapers, magazines, television, mass media and the many facets of entertainment such as sports, music, dance and literature. Thus popular culture becomes “culture actually made by people for themselves” (Williams 111). In the essay “Notes on Deconstructing the Popular”, Stuart Hall defines popular culture as all the cultural activities of the people, or their “distinctive way of life” which is considered as popular within social context, and is popularly accepted within the society in any particular period (449). Popular Culture also accommodates cultural texts and practices which fail to qualify as the high or elite culture. This residual nature makes it a site of struggle between the marginalized and the dominant groups in society, where forces of incorporation and resistance against them come into