Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the relationship between musical engagement, group identity creation, maintenance and challenges and group resilience and resistance.

Paper long abstract:

The resilience of group identity can be considered a vital component of peacebuilding efforts and of understanding conflict. As such, this resilience is a factor in social change or status quo maintenance. A group cannot maintain hegemonic control in an area where their own identity is not resilient nor can a subaltern group engage with resistance to hegemonic control without a resilient identity. Musical activities have been demonstrated to build, enhance and bolster group identities, as well as challenge them. This paper argues, therefore, that music has played a key role in group resilience through identity maintenance for both groups wishing to maintain the status quo in power relationships and for those who wish to resist and challenge the status quo. This paper builds upon the recent scholarship in music sociology (Lidskog 2016; Farzana 2017) and post-colonial theory (Lovesey 2017; Kanaaneh et al 2013) to suggest how musical engagement develops, maintains, and challenges group identity for these purposes, often simultaneously.