Share
Composing Aid: Music, Refugees, and Humanitarian Politics
Oliver Y. Shao
(Author)
·
Oliver Shao
(Author)
·
Indiana University Press
· Paperback
Composing Aid: Music, Refugees, and Humanitarian Politics - Shao, Oliver Y. ; Shao, Oliver
Choose the list to add your product or create one New List
✓ Product added successfully to the Wishlist.
Go to My Wishlists
Origin: U.S.A.
(Import costs included in the price)
It will be shipped from our warehouse between
Friday, July 05 and
Wednesday, July 17.
You will receive it anywhere in United Kingdom between 1 and 3 business days after shipment.
Synopsis "Composing Aid: Music, Refugees, and Humanitarian Politics"
Music and arts initiatives are often praised for their capacity to aid in the rehabilitation of refugees. However, it is crucial to recognize that this celebratory view can also mask the unequal power dynamics involved in regulating forced migration. In Composing Aid, Oliver Shao turns a critical ear towards the United Nations-run Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, one of the largest and oldest encampments in the world. This politically engaged ethnography delves into various cultural practices, including hip hop shows, traditional dances, religious ceremonies, and NGO events, in an urbanized borderland area beset with precarity and inequality. How do songs intersect with the politics of belonging in a space controlled by state and humanitarian forces? Why do camp authorities support certain musical activities over others? What can performing artists teach us about the inequities of the international refugee regime?Offering a provocative contribution to ethnomusicological methods through its focus on activist research, Composing Aid elucidates the powerful role of music and the arts in reproducing, contesting, and reimagining the existing migratory order.