Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Music has been utilized as a tool to achieve social and political ends since humans recognized the deep emotional responses that can be aroused when we hear music. In modern history, American jazz music has likewise been utilized in myriad cultures across the globe as as tool towards achieving a range of political and social goals. This paper examines how various groups within different cultures have employed jazz in a wide range of contexts with varying objectives— including within both democratic and authoritarian societies - as a tool to affect sociopolitical perspectives of both domestic and foreign audiences. Particular attention is given to the polarity of the social and political goals within the examined cultures as they tend to either include calls for stimulating social and political change, reinforcing a pre-existing construct/perception, or occasionally, pursuit of seemingly contrary goals simultaneously.