ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces two distinct approaches to using music in political activism: 'refigurative' and 'pragmatic'. It describes the ubiquity of music within political activism, and the great variety of ways that music can be understood to matter in relation to it. The chapter also describes the ways that music-making is organized and ordered within activist movements, and explores what is entailed in activist musicianship. 'Prefigurativism' refers to an approach to political activism in which, rather than seeking to achieve external political objectives, members of activist groups seek to foment ideal social relationships in their interactions with one another, thus 'prefiguring' an idealized future in the present. The chapter offers Red Wedge as a paradigmatic example of the pragmatic use of music in support of political activism. It identifies a contrast between 'pragmatic' and 'prefigurative' uses of music.
