We shall overcome: to what extent can musicians influence the process of desecuritization (original) (raw)

This dissertation explores whether musicians have a role in the process of desecuritization and, if so, to what extent. Scholars have, to a limited extent, examined the unmaking of security and looked at music’s role in politics. However, there seems to be a divide between the two subfields of research with a notion of not having anything in common. This dissertation aims to firstly expand the scholarly understanding on the under-developed desecuritization theory, which offers strategies for escaping hyper-security, concluding it to be a multi-layered process. Music will be demonstrated to be an excellent tool for identity and community creation, which can manifest itself via social movements and, in that instance, challenge the dominant narrative. A subsequent synthesis and placement of music within the process of desecuritization will suggest that there are three essential common features between the two fields: the centrality of the audience, end goal and call for politics from below. A case study on Beyoncé’s song ‘Formation’ in support of the Black Lives Matter movement will be used to test the extent to which musicians can drive desecuritization, pointing towards rhetorical desecuritization.