Summits on Music, Business, and Peace
Alain Barker, Timothy Fort, Constance Cook Glen, Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, Aida Huseynova, Scott Shackelford, Ruth Stone
INTRODUCTION
The intent of our summits are to bring together national and international researchers, activists, and artists who currently focus on two major fields of interest – “Music and Peace” and “Business and Peace” – in a series of ground-breaking presentations, discussions, and performances. With two summits completed (2017, 2018), the project actively juxtaposes and cross-pollinates a wide range of intellectual and artistic practices in the belief that a coherent set of understandings can emerge on how the two disciplines interact with and co-inhabit their worlds. Invited participants are from a broad cross-section including those whose careers are centered on global studies, peace and peace building. Local, national, and international entities will be represented.
PEACE AND AMBIVALENCE
The worlds of music and business are as universal as they are ambivalent: every culture possesses a musical dimension; every community converts resources into goods that sustain life; and every culture involves interaction and self-examination of cultural norms. Beyond those basic statements, however, there is tremendous diversity that encourages peace, but also its nemesis, violence. How music and business might engender peace and, even more provocatively, how they might do so together forms this project’s fundamental inquiry.
Through the summit and resulting publications and performances, we seek to not only explore the contributions music and business can make to peace studies; we believe that working models for future research and creative endeavors can emerge. We also hope to show that interdisciplinary scholarly interaction and public engagement can combine music, business, and peace into an active tool for peacebuilding. Moreover, we believe that the outcomes from the summit will influence and impact peace-building efforts around the world, as they intersect with issues of justice, community, voice, virtues, citizenship, and societal change.
Through the summit and resulting publications and performances, we seek to not only explore the contributions music and business can make to peace studies; we believe that working models for future research and creative endeavors can emerge. We also hope to show that interdisciplinary scholarly interaction and public engagement can combine music, business, and peace into an active tool for peacebuilding. Moreover, we believe that the outcomes from the summit will influence and impact peace-building efforts around the world, as they intersect with issues of justice, community, voice, virtues, citizenship, and societal change.
SCHOLARSHIP AND PRACTICE
Active scholarship currently exists on the topics of music and peace as well as business and peace, and there is a large body of humanities-based research on the nature of peace and its many components.
Over the past two decades, the area of business and peace has developed into a vital field with its own academic journal, hundreds of scholars researching and writing on the topic, dozens of conferences, and the emergence of NGOs that address the issue. One of the key participants in this development has been planning member, Timothy Fort, who has written four books on the topic, two of which have won best book awards from the Academy of Management. He has also organized or co-organized more than ten conferences, written many scholarly articles on the topic, and co-led a U.S. Government Task Force on business and peace.
Scholarship on music and peace is quickly becoming a recognized field. Several seminal writers and activists in music and peace studies will be participants in the summit, including Olivier Urbain, Cynthia Cohen, Alexander Bernstein and Nancy Love. Planning member Constance Cook Glen’s involvement in the field includes a course, “Music of War and Peace”, which focuses on roles that musicians have takenwhile bearing witness to conflict and, through their music, calling for and inspiring peace-making. Much of the course draws on philosophies stemming from current research in the field.
Organizations and performers that highlight peaceful and positive social change through the arts have also grown dramatically in the last two decades (e.g. Musaid, Playing for Change, Musequality, and El Sistema) and have expanded far beyond the occasional fund-raising concert for disaster relief that was prevalent for decades.
Creative activity in this area now occurs across musical genres, from popular to classical to folk to world. Planning member Aida Huseynova has worked extensively with one of the leading proponents of music and peace, Yo-Yo Ma, who with his Silk Road project, is deeply invested in the idea of increasing an understanding of diverse cultures through musical collaboration.
It should also be pointed out that the research on business and music exists in several arenas that the organizers hope will be attracted to the discussions and presentations, including music entrepreneurship, arts administration, and the commercial music world.
Peace studies have been extensively explored though academic programs at numerous universities, in disciplines as diverse as sociology, law, criminal justice, religious studies, political science, geology, African studies, and comparative literature. We believe that by attracting those in related fields that feature peace studies , the summit will create new bridges of communication that can facilitate research and stimulate significant initiatives.
It is precisely the existence of copious, yet disparate work from scholars and musicians aiming towards peace-building, that has inspired the planning committee to design a workshop, followed by athis summit where goals can be aligned and coordinated.
Over the past two decades, the area of business and peace has developed into a vital field with its own academic journal, hundreds of scholars researching and writing on the topic, dozens of conferences, and the emergence of NGOs that address the issue. One of the key participants in this development has been planning member, Timothy Fort, who has written four books on the topic, two of which have won best book awards from the Academy of Management. He has also organized or co-organized more than ten conferences, written many scholarly articles on the topic, and co-led a U.S. Government Task Force on business and peace.
Scholarship on music and peace is quickly becoming a recognized field. Several seminal writers and activists in music and peace studies will be participants in the summit, including Olivier Urbain, Cynthia Cohen, Alexander Bernstein and Nancy Love. Planning member Constance Cook Glen’s involvement in the field includes a course, “Music of War and Peace”, which focuses on roles that musicians have takenwhile bearing witness to conflict and, through their music, calling for and inspiring peace-making. Much of the course draws on philosophies stemming from current research in the field.
Organizations and performers that highlight peaceful and positive social change through the arts have also grown dramatically in the last two decades (e.g. Musaid, Playing for Change, Musequality, and El Sistema) and have expanded far beyond the occasional fund-raising concert for disaster relief that was prevalent for decades.
Creative activity in this area now occurs across musical genres, from popular to classical to folk to world. Planning member Aida Huseynova has worked extensively with one of the leading proponents of music and peace, Yo-Yo Ma, who with his Silk Road project, is deeply invested in the idea of increasing an understanding of diverse cultures through musical collaboration.
It should also be pointed out that the research on business and music exists in several arenas that the organizers hope will be attracted to the discussions and presentations, including music entrepreneurship, arts administration, and the commercial music world.
Peace studies have been extensively explored though academic programs at numerous universities, in disciplines as diverse as sociology, law, criminal justice, religious studies, political science, geology, African studies, and comparative literature. We believe that by attracting those in related fields that feature peace studies , the summit will create new bridges of communication that can facilitate research and stimulate significant initiatives.
It is precisely the existence of copious, yet disparate work from scholars and musicians aiming towards peace-building, that has inspired the planning committee to design a workshop, followed by athis summit where goals can be aligned and coordinated.
THE 2018 SUMMIT
The 2018 summit marked the second engagement between scholars and researchers in the fields of “Music and Peace” and “Business and Peace”.
The day-long session, May 11, 2018, included participants in Bloomington, as well as those who connect through interactive live-streaming. The project is designed to be open-ended and exploratory; a vetting of the nature of new interdisciplinary dialogue. With multiple sessions through the day, including several formal presentations, the summit provided opportunities for participants to explore possible integrations and connections, which helped synthesize common streams of thought.
The day-long session, May 11, 2018, included participants in Bloomington, as well as those who connect through interactive live-streaming. The project is designed to be open-ended and exploratory; a vetting of the nature of new interdisciplinary dialogue. With multiple sessions through the day, including several formal presentations, the summit provided opportunities for participants to explore possible integrations and connections, which helped synthesize common streams of thought.