Two white music professors call for ‘war machine’ to promote racial equality
NewsProfessors Erika Knapp (University of North Texas, pictured) and Whitney Mayo (University of North Dakota, inset) have published a paper that claims embedded racism in university music departments and demands radical action through a so-called ‘war machine’.
The paper is titled Disrupting Racism in Music Education: Conceptualizing Admissions Processes Through the State and the War Machine.
Sample text:
‘The war machine lives outside the boundaries of the State and is best understood in terms of its emancipatory potential as an apparatus that cannot and will not be captured by the State. According to Deuchars (2019), war machines are ways of thinking that are so radical to the State that they wage war on existing orders of knowledge with guerrilla logic. The war machine works externally on the margins, disrupting the State’s regime while resisting capture.
‘The relationship between the State and the war machine is ongoing and dynamic, with the war machine always being at risk of being reappropriated by the State if it gets too close or if it endangers the safety and control the State desires.
‘Because of the State’s ability to appropriate and conform bodies into the continuation of its own goals, the war machine must always be on guard, remaining in the process of becoming and evolving as an ever-shifting, fluid entity. Even when the State tries to appropriate, the war machine will shift and disrupt from the margins in a new way, because it knows how the State works and can devise new actions of resistance.
‘While some music education scholars view the war machine in relational opposition to the State (Hess 2014; Jorgenson and Yob 2013), others describe the warmachine as a limitless space, neither outside nor in binary opposition to the State, but altogether different (Gould 2009). The main goal of the war machine is as a “counteractive force to decode the flows of capitalism” (Deuchars 2019, n.p.). In this way, it is not necessarily a better way of thinking or being, but a different way. …’
Discuss.
Can they read music?
I don’t know if they can read music but students and their parents are spending thousands on college educations to learn from turkeys like these.
Sometimes I dream of the return of a new Soviet Union. Where people like these would be sent to the Arctic to work in the mines. Do something useful for society, not so much time for thinking. Better for us all.
But that’s precisely what is happening — professors like these will be sending actual musicians to the mines.
More worthless cr*p from America. Will it never end?
If American colleges and universities continue to receive risk-free promises of lucre from a morally bankrupt federal govt, no. Just more leftist craziness in what once was the land of freedom and prosperity.
Oh, well, I probably won’t be around for the collapse.
What is wrong with the Federal Government, be it Republican or Democrat, providing funding for specific research it has requested from American universities? The Department of Defence is one large recipient of that funding; you know that’s the Department that has sent my son to the Middle East to protect American interests and values.
Sorry, US hegemony is the only bulwark against a world sliding into anarchy or communism. Thank you for your son’s service so that we may stave off the inevitable entropy of civilization for at least another week or two.
As for colleges receiving funding, they do so with very little oversight and in America that has resulted in an overwhelming leftward shift for universities. I’m all for traditional liberalism, but the new progressive insanity (such as the type in this article) does nothing to enhance the lives of people exposed to the nonsense.
The quoted text above sounds very much like Deleuze & Guattari, so my first thought was how very French it seemed, though it was coming from Americans.
Deleuze and Guattari had some very interesting ideas about music itself–it is a “bird-becoming” they said–and it is sad that music professors do not focus on _those_ ideas of D&G.
Since French philosophers Foucault and Derrida, American universities seem to have been infected with their postmodernism and poststructuralism. Every discussion is turned into a ‘discours’ beyond which there is nothing. ‘There is nothing beyond the text’ said Derrida, meaning that there is no reality apart from what the ‘discourse’ is, what texts say. This explains the popularity of this thinking at universities: the world disappears and everybody enjoys the thought bubble without contact with reality.
Yes John. There’s no connection to reality. When you take a picture of an orchestra 99.9% of people are white, and when you take a picture of those in jail, 90% are not white – no, that’s not reality.
But now I’m gonna hear thats justice and just reflects human nature. As if some type of people (the former) were somehow “superior” to another type (the latter), statistically. Many think like this – the world is perfectly meritocratic and the chips fall exactly where they should given the good/bad natural order of things.
Then you can get very creative as to how to rid of the bad and promote the good, like some folks in the 1940’s.
Perhaps you think along these lines? Surely seems so.
It seems that it’s time again to take your pills.
So says the worst composer in the world.
Mmmm…? Someone with ear and brain problems…. Also patients are allowed to comment here, that makes SD so interesting. There’s no other outlet for them.
“Someone with ear and brain problems”…..you should put that in your bio. Quite accurate!
Reality check. (Neo) Marxism is another Eurotrash import America would be best without.
In this case, more worthless Knapp …
No. We’ve become the very essence of worthless cr*p. The lunatics run the asylum.
They should be willing therefore to give up their positions to BIPOC hires who will replace them.
Exactly.
Cultural Marxism. This is how Putin undermines western society. Cheaper and more efficient that bullets.
Oops! That has nothing to do with Putin. Cultural marxists don’t need a Putin, they can do all of that themselves.
Progressive morons proposing a “war” at everyone else’s expense is nothing new here in Amerika.
1) Like the “war on christmas”? Very left/woke thing. Oh, but I forget, that is a real thing! Nevermind.
2) It’s written AmeriCa. And the name of the country is United States of America, or – abridged – USA. Wonderful example of how listening to Beethoven, Mozart and being a Trump lover heightens your intellect and writing skills. Keep it up!!
“It’s written AmeriCa.” Learn your history. A critique of the country as Amerika was developed in the 1960s.
America loves to talk, especially when such talk remains utterly sterile and leads to zero social change. At least it provides topics for obscure papers in academia that might be read at most by ten people. Talking and doing absolutely nothing about that which one talks about truly is an American specialty. It’s everywhere — in universities, on television, and on social media. I believe it’s an indirect way to atone and find some sort of redemption for ills one feels responsible for, yet does absolutely nothing about.
This tired trope of systemic racism, which for some well-known published authors is literally a form of rather lucrative business, doesn’t seem to be accomplishing anything. It doesn’t seem to lessen racism. One way to do this might be by making a higher standard of education available to minorities, so that they do acquire a chance to make it in life, and not segregate them within specific areas in major cities. That’s certainly not as sophisticated as the obscure doings of an elusive “war machine.” It certainly doesn’t sound as cool, nor as profound. It would be a more modest aim that yet might actually bear results in the real world, as opposed to an unintelligible prospect merely destined to add another line to an academic’s current resume.
Re: “One way to do this might be by making a higher standard of education available to minorities”
The mayor of Chicago, who is Black, supports the elimination of special schools aimed at academic excellence, because they shame the students that are not excellent. The Chicago Teachers Union supports this.
So: Wallow voluntarily in mediocrity and then scream ‘foul’ when you fail to progress. Got it.
But the mediocre ARE progressing. Look around — they are everywhere. From the opposition to blind auditions, which were conceived to improve fairness, to this attack on excellence, to the people manning (oops) universities, schools, libraries, publishers, broadcasters, newspapers, museums and galleries, theatres, etc. — they are running it. Look who’s President of Harvard, FCS. And think about the pathetic response she (and her partners in crime) gave to the Congressional hearing on calls for anti-Semitic genocide. All the intellectual content of a pistachio nut.
I remember as a young person newly in the work force in the 80s, everyone’s bible was a book called In Search of Excellence. If you hadn’t read, and essentially signed on to, that book, you were really NOT cool. I can write the script in my head what the wokies would have to say about the very notion of the book.
As for these two, despite their quest, they seem not to have managed to shake off the shackles of scholarly jargonese. Makes them look desperate, this war of theirs — they are clearly embedded in the worst kind of scholarly tropes and are trying to cut themselves out from the herd.
Very true.
The idea that removing obstacles of excellence to offer more chances to the underprivileged, is a result of the ‘equalizing world view’ which claims that every achievement by anyone is equally good and useful in a real democracy. It wants to remove ‘vertical thinking’ in terms of value and quality, to replace it with ‘horizontal thinking’ which gives everybody and every achievement, entirely separated from actual value, the same meaning.
Strangely enough such people demand vertical thinking of quality value when dentistry or surgeoncy is considered.
‘Every part of the human being is of great importance. But not every part is equally important’. (Chinese philosopher To-Fu, 11th century AD.
Why I’m no longer talking to Americans about culture. The whole American cultural sector increasingly resembles a sort of intellectual Chernobyl: probably best to cordon it off and avoid it for a few decades until the toxicity falls to a habitable level.
My money’s on Chernobyl to make it first.
“The whole American cultural sector increasingly resembles a sort of intellectual Chernobyl.”
Great line and well put!!! I’m going to steal it.
These two so-called scholars are only capable of regurgitating and transforming bits of Marxist ideology into virtue signaling gibberish that is read and understood and directed almost exclusively to their fellow travelers. Reading this garbage is about as illuminating and fun as wading through a pig sty. No wonder most undergraduates had no understanding of western civilization much less basic history and geography.
But pigs are lovely creatures. I’d rather wade through their waste than listen to these luxury revolutionaries.
Perhaps so, but they have mastered the art of being listened to. That’s a valuable skill in any situation. Ask a politician.
What a load of incomprehensible garbage! Perhaps it should be re-written in plain English.
Update: the two professors have agreed to give up their posts in favour of poc’s. Principled people.
A future in stand-up awaits.
Maybe she can pull together four BIPOC musicians (students of Asian descent do not count) and form the Trotsky Quartet.
Keep in mind when the William Osbornes wail about public funding of the arts, it’s not about DWEMs like Beethoven and Verdi, it means stuff like this.
In academia, DEI is now very much at the forefront of hiring, promotion, and reviews. Its like DEI or DIE!
To be heard soon in employment interviews: ‘I see that you have an American degree. Why should we hire you?’
If only…more likely to be “I see you have graduated in engineering. Did you have any useful minors, like gender studies or intersectionality?”
They need to put down the bong and look at real issues in music education. (bypassing the instant gratification, why are “complete conservatory methods” such a mess, raising standards in inner city schools so BIPOC have a chance to be competitive.
Lebrecht loves to act like some ordained arbiter of scolding classical music and music intelligentsia, as though he carries some responsibility of bringing these educators to the gallows. For what it’s worth, many of these comments seem to reflect persons who haven’t stepped foot in an academic sphere lately and cannot speak to the learning goals and needs of young people and the next generation of music. Western art music is certainly complicit in much of the underlying harm and punitive structures of our liberal society. It has held significant cultural sway for centuries, so why dissuade criticism or conversations surrounding its upheaval or deconstruction? It’s managed to survive criticism thus far! With all the posturing Lebrecht does on this website, I expect him to be front and center should any music education “guerrilla warfare” ensue.
The issue is not whether criticism should be pursued or not — it definitely should — but whether these endeavors actually constitute any credible criticism. It seems to me the excerpt cited above simply checks most boxes in today’s academic Zeitgeist, in that it rehashes predictable postmodern jargon and a series of hackneyed clichés, but conveys nothing actually substantial, nor frankly intelligible.
Regarding the needs of the next generation of music students, I would submit that they might need first and foremost to become truly competitive in a field that which undoubtedly will become increasingly challenging economically, as a saturated supply will simply not be able to be absorbed by a shrinking marketplace. There won’t be enough jobs for everybody.
If Western music is so oppressive, why keep on studying a field that yet relies heavily on its heritage? Do we actually expect such academic endeavors to truly effect any meaningful change? I highly doubt they will, as their impact may be minimal at best.
Finally, it seems to me rather contradictory and ironical to be criticizing capitalism while at the same time belonging to institutions that charge hefty tuition fees to their students, thereby closing themselves off from entire financially disadvantaged segments of the population. Addressing such issues, now that might be a worthwhile academic pursuit.
Frankly, these academic exercises smack of exclusivity and, I would submit, a form of insular, self-congratulatory pseudo-intellectual narcissism.
A very strange use of “complicit”. How exactly did, say, Dvorak’s 9th Symphony manage to be “certainly complicit in much of the underlying harm and punitive structures of our liberal society”? Did the key signatures get up on their hind legs and bash people about?
There are certain pentatonic turns of phrase in the 1st movement which are quite disconcerting for Asians, while African Americans suffer identity crises during the adagio, in spite of Dvorak’s wellmeaning efforts. The finale however is a dangerous temptation for White Suprematists and when Jewish listeners feel squeezed between the warring symbolisms, any observer will be confirmed in her/his/their/its idea that this work is definitely saturated with unspeakable underground powers which have to be cancelled as soon a possible.
Oh, but none of that means that the symphony is “complicit” in punishment and whatnot, ‘cos only beings with agency can be complicit.
Because money directed towards funding people doing the “criticizing” here can be put to much better use elsewhere, such as free music education for children of disadvantaged minorities. I’m also willing to bet that these two white people are employed based on their ideology and they usurped positions from much better qualified BIPOC and Asian musicologists who don’t indulge in such nonsense.
Sounds like you’re part of the problem.
I find this direction boring and ineffective…
I presume that misogynistic rap is beaux-Arts and beyond reproach…
There’s a grain of truth in this article. Yes, many students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a difficult time getting into music schools. For band and orchestra students top-quality instruments make a difference, but many families have difficulty affording them. Years of private lessons also help, but lessons are expensive. It’s important to remember that white students from low-income families and students (all backgrounds) from rural areas can face similar hurdles.
Most music students in the U.S. get their start in public schools, but many of these schools have made cuts to or eliminated their music programs. When money is tight, music is often the first subject to go. It happened in the schools in which I once taught; most of the students, teachers, and administrators were African-American.
It pains me to say it, but I don’t think music education is a great profession anymore. There are music teachers with good jobs who are happy, but I’m currently seeing way too many talented people who quit in frustration after teaching for only a few years.
Professors Erika Knapp and Whitney Mayo are trying to make a name for themselves, but this paper, mostly gibberish, isn’t the way to do it. They value their jobs, but if they really want to be honest they’ll inform their prospective students that music education degrees will prepare them for jobs that probably won’t pay very well.
Plenty of music schools that aren’t all that selective. Mine wasn’t. The faculty understood that a great number of students didn’t have the best opportunities growing up, but these marginal students were admitted anyway. They were given a chance, but they had to work hard and produce. Some did and some didn’t, and that’s the way it goes.
I have a good suggestion for these two professors. Instead of coming up with incomprehensible nonsense like this, do something productive. Obtain funding to set up summer programs for promising lower-income students from all backgrounds. Have music education students teach private lessons (at little to no cost), either in person or on Zoom (or something similar).
Living in a cave? There are many programs that put instruments in the hands of inner city kids, along with lessons and performance opportunties. OrchKids in Baltimore is just one. Then, if they get good enough to get into a college and study music, they an get a full ride, subsidized by the middle class paying full tuition.
Very true. I didn’t want my comment to be any longer, but I’m familiar with some of these programs. The two professors should be directing their efforts to the things that you’ve described, not writing fancy papers that say nothing.
The quoted sections sound like kind of third rate politically correct agitprop that often wafts out of coroporate DEI departments but the vast majority of elitist and tunnel vision comments on this thread show there is a seropis problem with Euro-centric visions of the arts in general and music in particular. And for those who dismiss American culture, you’re just part of the problem.
I don’t know what seropis is.
Oh! But let me help you out: it is a phrasmotic contrafibularity.
Thomas Ades or Anna Thorvaldsdottir (Sp?) – I hope you’re listening. Sounds like a great title for a new symphonic work: War Machine!
It’s already there – in various embodiments.
Can all the whiners commenting to this rather obvious text read it first?
This article takes a close look at how the process of getting into music education programs can be unfair for students from groups that have been left out in the past, continuing the cycle of racial inequality.
The authors, who are White and work towards ending racism, talk about their own experiences and the special responsibilities they carry because of their privileged position. They stress how important it is to consider all different aspects of fighting racism.
They use ideas from theorists Deleuze and Guattari about “the State” and “the war machine,” and apply them to how students get into music education. They explain that music education institutions, like “the State,” keep things under control and stay powerful, while “the war machine” is about bold new ways of thinking that can shake things up. The authors argue against the usual idea of what a musician or teacher should be, which is often shaped by these institutions, and say we need to change this to make music education more diverse and welcoming.
The article offers a bunch of ways to shake up the current system. It talks about the need to focus on growing and improving, to rethink our ideas of what makes someone a good musician or teacher, and to question the way things are usually done. The authors call for people who are against racism, especially in education, to come together and really work to change the deep-seated racist issues in music education.
It quite obvious folks. If you dare to read.
At the university I teach at, there is a vocal coach who is convinced that The State spies on people via their microwaves. Her grasp of reality is as feeble as these two imbeciles.
Is this the same as the Dark State supposedly run by liberals in the USA government??? What a joke.
Good for them.
I’m confused, why are we giving this particular piece of scholarship any attention? What makes this stand out from countless other similar articles?
I’ll try to put it mildly: What a bunch of garbage. Politically-correct clichés. Pathetic.
English translation please. From what I can make out, these two sound like they need to get laid.
Disgusting.