Youth Work, Music Making and Activism

Abstract

Music making holds great potential for youth activism. When combined with youth work, that potential is significantly heightened. This article applies Kuttner’s framework for justice-oriented cultural citizens to data gleaned from five youth workers across three different cities in the East Midlands of England. Each of these youth workers was interviewed about their involvement in music-making activities, from providing instrumental tuition to facilitating lyric-writing workshops, and their perspectives on youth activism. Data from this study highlights the affordances of youth music making in relation to three layers of activism: self-activism, community-level activism and wider social activism. This article concludes by arguing for the importance of music-making spaces for young people and music making practices within youth work.