Transformative Music Project
Music can be an expression of individual concerns and carry with it meanings of social and economic transformation and organize people's collective consciousness. In this project, Econ 243 students have compiled a list of transformative songs from different time periods in the US. We've written short blurbs about the songs, included lyrics, and--when available--a YouTube clip. We've categorized the songs according to anti-racist, anti-class, feminist, and ecological movements and tried to identify each song's transformative process.
The Radio Show
On the night of Monday, December 6th, 2010, we hosted a radio show on WZLY from 9:00 to 11 PM. We used this time to play transformative music on air and give live commentary on the songs. We also had the chance to interview Prof. Beth DeSombre about her music and her take on transformative music. Prof. DeSombre also gave us a few live performances of her music. To download and listen to the radio show, click here (*.m4a format, 248 MB total). The show is split into the following six segments:- Beth DeSombre Interview and Performances
- Anti-Racist Songs
- Anti-Class Songs
- Feminist Music
- Ecology Songs
- Solidarity Economy Songs
This page was created in November 2010 with analytical content written by Aileen Patimeteeporn, Heidi Wang, Naomi Takaki, Esther Gonzalez, Cynthia Lee, and Shannon Coyne. The website pages were created by Heidi Wang and Shannon Coyne. The layout template was provided by Professor Matthaei.