Community Music and Ethnomusicology

This chapter reflects on the similarities and differences between community music and applied ethnomusicology. We argue that to describe a particular study as belonging to one or the other of these sub-disciplines is often as much a reflection of scholarly networks and frameworks as it is evidence of differences in methodology or approach. The chapter introduces a number of case studies from South Africa, and focuses in particular on a community archiving project in the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park. These case studies are used to illustrate the different inflections that may pertain to the terms ‘community music’ or ‘applied ethnomusicology’, while also demonstrating the overlaps between them. Finally, attention is drawn to the risks that are always involved in cultural interventions, regardless of from where they may emanate