New book! Music, Research, and Activism: Prospects and Projects in Northern Europe

This new edited collection suggests that we are experiencing an activist turn in music research. The idea is explored in a series of position papers and contemplative texts, where music researchers, music educators and artistic researchers reflect how their work and the position they occupy as professionals in society serves eco-social justice and equity.

Music, Research, and Activism:
Prospects and Projects in Northern Europe

Edited by Kim Ramstedt, Susanna Välimäki, Kaj Ahlsved and Sini Mononen

Intellect (Bristol) and Research Association Suoni (Helsinki) 

Publication date 20 June 2025
(Print and open access ebook)

Available for preorder in Finland (25 EUR incl. shipping)
Order by June 11 and receive the book by the publication date

International orders from Intellect Discover

This book introduces the concept of activist music research, emphasising action and social responsibility and suggests that music research can be used to promote social and ecological justice. This is discussed in a series of position papers by music researchers who engage in public debate in their various roles - educator, critic, journalist, DJ, producer, promoter - and work with other actors in civil society and culture. 

The book suggests that we are experiencing an activist turn in music research, evidenced by the growing number of projects and publications discussing inequalities in musical practices and the impact music research can have on these inequalities. This idea is explored in a series of position papers and contemplative texts, where music researchers, music educators, and artistic researchers reflect on how their work and the position they occupy as professionals in society serves eco-social justice and equity. What is the point of studying and teaching music in an age of ecocide, neo(liberal)-colonialism, rampant racial inequities, persistent gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination? What does social and ecological responsibility and sustainability mean in music research?

The idea for the book was conceived within the context of Suoni, a non-profit independent research association in Finland founded as a self-organizing and independent network for scholars interested in exploring methods, pedagogics, practices and action for eco-social equity in relation to music and music research. 

The book has received support from: Kone Foundation, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and Svenska Kulturfonden i Björneborg.

Table of contents

Introduction: The Activist Turn in Music Research
Kim Ramstedt and Susanna Välimäki

Between Activism and White Saviourism: Unpacking the Racial Dynamics of Multiculturalism in Ethnomusicology and World Music
Kim Ramstedt and Miia Laine

Researcher as Minority and Majority: Hip-Hop Feminist Epistemologies
Inka Rantakallio

The Identity Crisis of Music Criticism
Sini Mononen

Internalized Orientalism in the Western Capitalist Organization of Music
Aman Askarizad and Kim Ramstedt

Feeling Un/Comfortable: Positionality and Embodied Experience in Classical Music Research
Marika Kivinen and Anna Ramstedt

Journeying Towards an Activist Study of Musical Performance
Milla Tiainen

Activism in Vocational Music Education: Towards Norm-Critical Change
Kaj Ahlsved

Music Historians as Feminist Activists: Gender Mainstreaming in Contemporary Concert Repertoires
Susanna Välimäki and Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik

The Music Scholar as an Environmental Slow Activist: Theses on Ecomusicology and Nature
Juha Torvinen

Feminist Music Education and Autism Spectrum Condition: The Teacher-Researcher as an Ethical Agent
Katja Sutela and Linda Liukkonen

The Silences of Labour Music History: Music as a Tool for Social Change
Saijaleena Rantanen