Orchestrating Social Change – An Inquiry Into The Role Of Western Classical Music Within El Sistema

Abstract

In this study I will examine the role of Western classical music within the global music education movement El Sistema. I will research the claims of El Sistema advancing social change and the implications of Western classical music in that context.

My research question is: What are the implications of focusing on Western classical music as a vehicle for so-cial change within the global music education movement El Sistema?

In the conceptual framework, I will present critical pedagogy and postcolonial theory. I will also detail the history and current operation of the music education movement El Sistema. I will use this framework to evaluate the results.

This thesis is a qualitative inquiry, which I have conducted as a systematical literature review. I have searched for and reviewed research and literature regarding my topic, which I will synthesize and gather into results. I will consider the claims of social change made by El Sistema through reviewing scholarly research. I will then explore the relationship between Western classical music and social change and how it is con-ceptualized within El Sistema. I will discuss the relationship between El Sistema and the field of Western classical music, contemplating the future of the cultural practice. Finally, I will reflect on the research process, evaluate the reliability of my research and consider topics for further research.

The results of my research exhibit that Western classical music is considered as a vehicle for social change by misrepresenting behavioral change as social change. Gaining cultural capital through the influence of Western art is assumed to be morally uplifting to such a degree that social change is inevitable. The music education programme fails to engage with the histories and contexts of Western classical music, thus reproducing the inequality it wishes to address.