Progressive ethnomusicology and the limits of the institutions: a perspective from europe

Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium, the questioning of disciplinary fields has been at the heart of the social sciences, arts and humanities (SSAH). Terms like interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, border thinking, transcendental thinking, disciplinary transgression are increasingly frequent in our discourses and share a strong profile of doing/ thinking “together” rather than “alone”. In fact, practice-led research is an important measure through which different disciplines are responding to this challenge. Ethnomusicology, a minority discipline in the context of SSAH, and since its inception dedicated to fundamental research, has gradually become an important interlocutor in the disciplinary debate, and, crucially, a pioneer in encouraging healthy disobedience toward the canon. Some important changes generated mainly in the Global South (Brazil, Australia, South Africa) – have made an existing reality more visible: the fact that there is no single way of doing ethnomusicology. Instead, we have many ethnomusicologies and different ethnomusicological praxes. Some are now leading what we might call a “praxis turn”, toward a more socially committed ethnomusicology, a decolonial ethnomusicology or an ethnomusicology for equity. The perspectives of the Global North and the Global South are radically changing in what we might call progressive ethnomusicology. The European University Association’s recent declaration, entitled “Universities without Walls: A Vision for 2030”, is an important sign, paving the way for new challenges and, above all, offering a unique opportunity for ethnomusicology to position itself as a progressive discipline. This panel intends to share experiences of using shared research practices in ethnomusicology and musical performance in Portugal. It includes academics and non-academic researchers who have worked/ thought together, producing co-useful and transmodal knowledge, supported by European institutions. Our aim is to share experiences and, above all, discuss how European institutions are prepared – or not – for a new ethnomusicological praxis where knowledge and research practices should not have walls.