ABSTRACT
In the general sense of the word, ‘politics’ permeates popular music studies. Practically every aspect of the production and consumption of popular music involves theoretical debates about the dynamics of economic, cultural, and political power and influence and the reproduction of social structures and individual subjectivity. Several of these topics have been touched on in previous chapters; in this, and the following two chapters, I more directly consider three aspects of music and politics. First, the role of popular music and musicians in fostering social change, its mobilization within social movements, and the place of music and musicians in relation to issues of gender and sexuality, and race and ethnicity. Second, Chapter 14 turns to the censorship and regulation of popular music, especially moral panics, with their associated and ongoing debates over the perceived negative ‘effects’ and influence of popular music. Third, in Chapter 15, I discuss the role of the state and music policy, primarily in relation to interventions to protect and stimulate local music within a globalized industry.
