All-In: The Strategic Dynamics of Music,Politics and Protest as Forces of Social Change

Abstract

This article examines how music operates as both a mirror of societal values and a catalyst for political transformation. The analysis centres on the intentional and accidental ways musicians engage with activism, while the poker metaphor is retained as a secondary lens for understanding strategy and risk. Drawing on artists such as Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé—as well as contemporary movements across the USA and globally—the article explores how songs reflect, resist and reshape dominant narratives. It investigates the tension between artistic intent and public reception, and highlights the role of music in current human rights protests around immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and rising authoritarianism. This interdisciplinary study underscores music’s enduring political power and invites renewed attention to the ways artists, communities and listeners co-create meaning in times of cultural upheaval.

Keywords

Music and politics political discourse social transformation human rights protests education policy public institutions democracy civic engagement collective action

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bailey

B. C.

(2020). “We Gon’ Be Alright!”: The Black Arts Movement’s survival through hip-hop [Master’s Thesis, Bowie State University].

Belcastro

(2015). Rebalancing quality education in a democratic society. Creative Education Journal: Special Issue on Critical Thinking and Critical Pedagogy , 6(4), 1–10.

Eyerman

, & Jamison

(1998). Music and social movements: Mobilizing traditions in the twentieth century . Cambridge University Press.

Freire

(2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group.

Frith

(1996). Performing rites: On the value of popular music . Harvard University Press.

Garofalo

(2010). Rockin’ out: Popular music in the USA (5th ed.). Prentice Hall.

Hess

(2017). Equity and music education: Euphemisms, terminal naivety, and whiteness. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education , 16(3), 15–47. https://doi.org/10.22176/act16.3.15

Karvelis

N. J.

(2018). Race, class, gender, and rhymes: Hip-hop as critical pedagogy. Music Educators Journal , 104(1), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432118788138

Purslow

V. T.

, & Belcastro

A. T.

(2019). The marginalization of American country music. The International Journal of Social, Political, and Community Agendas in the Arts , 14(2), 25–47.

10.

Smith

D. N.

, & Hanley

(2018). The anger games: Who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election and why? Critical Sociology , 44(2), 195–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920517740615