Flexibility and egalitarianism: musical insights from hunter-gatherers

Rudge, Alice

Abstract

Among egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups across the African continent, musical practices and egalitarian socialities are argued to be mutually implicated with one another. Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers also practice egalitarianism, however, and their musical practices represent a seeming anomaly alongside those of many African hunter-gatherer groups. Discussion of ‘hunter-gatherer musics’ that includes Southeast Asian perspectives has therefore been absent, even though cross-cultural, continent-spanning research with hunter-gatherers is common on topics such as politics, economics, and subsistence. Insights into egalitarianism can be gained through attention to the diversity in hunter-gatherer musical practices. This discussion of Ju|'hoan (Namibia) and Batek (Malaysia) musical practices demonstrates that egalitarianism can be understood in terms of its flexibility.

Citation

Rudge, A. (2019). Flexibility and egalitarianism: musical insights from hunter-gatherers. Ethnomusicology Forum, 28(2), 163-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2019.1683875

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 22, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 22, 2023
• Journal: Ethnomusicology Forum
• Print ISSN: 1741-1912
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-1920
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 163-183
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2019.1683875
• Keywords: Hunter-gatherer, egalitarianism, polyphony, aesthetics, diversity, flexibility
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2019.1683875