ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I want to theorise the politics of sound in the dancehall and church hall. When I refer to sound, I mean the process of sensing acoustics as a way of living and being in the world. Sound is never merely noise; it is fecund with cultural values. Therefore to hear sound is to decode cultural meanings.1 My understanding of politics comes from African-centred thought. Maulana Karenga describes politics as, ‘the art and process of gaining, maintaining and using power’.2 Whether politics is personal or structural in analysis, the fundamental concern is with power. Power is not domination, but the ability to realise the full potential of all people. In this regard the quest for power is inter-related and inter-dependant. To pull these themes together, in relation to the task of this chapter, my aim is to construct a way of understanding sound in relation to the quest for gaining and maintaining power.
