The Music of Peace: Sounds of Protest, Healing, and Reconciliation

This presentation is about music’s relationship to conflict resolution practice. Music, as the creation of pleasant harmonious sounds, features in people’s search for peaceful resolution of violent conflict. Music also accompanies nonviolent action for social justice, an important quality of peaceful societies. I draw on my personal and work experience in societies affected by violent conflict to explore music’s power in service of peace and social justice. Music empowers people’s resistance to war, injustice and oppression. Music also empowers people’s healing from war’s impact. We need to pay more attention to music’s important contribution to the struggle for peace and just societies