In this essay, music education is conceptualized as a game or performance within The Game, the "pervasive atmosphere" (Fisher 2009) of neoliberal capitalism, which inevitably shapes scholarship, practice, and policy. Even people who strive to see music education for what it really might be (e.g., those researching and promoting social…

This article explores and develops possible additional understandings of the term "artistic citizenship" as: 1) a lens to promote critical reflection; 2) a developing inclusive artistic identity; and 3) action for change. First, I provide a general overview of artistic citizenship in order to familiarize the reader with its current…

Transcultural pedagogy, or what is often described as world music pedagogy, in U.S. and Canadian classrooms often utilizes an extractive logic, serving to essentialize culture, invisibilize logics that are incongruent to European, Canadian, and U.S.-centric epistemologies, and uphold the goal of white assimilation under the guise of…

The second half of jazz's history has been defined by its expansion from more informal spaces into academies and concert halls. Integral to this cultural transformation has been the advent and standardization of collegiate jazz education. This paper explores the pedagogical and institutional responsibilities of institutional jazz education through…

In this paper I explore social justice and equity research in music education through the lens of capitalist realism and accompanying concepts. I look at Fisher's ideas on hauntology and its connection to classical liberalism and neoliberalism. Fisher noted how some electronic music and pop music of the early 21st century is structured by…

Teaching for musical meaning can be a multifaceted topic, since a universally accepted definition of musical meaning is elusive; yet musical meaning remains at the heart of music literacy. Music literacy is equally complex, as changes in technology constantly reorganize how musical sounds are produced, recorded, and transmitted. Today, musical…

In this article, I address the contemporary discussion of later-life courses in music education research and how it might perpetuate the discrimination and stereotyping of older adults. Drawing from the sociology of aging, I aim to show that one possible way to tackle the ageist assumptions in music education is to reflect on rethinking,…

Mark Fisher argues late capitalism has become so globally dominant that it now claims to constitute reality. This article takes up Fisher's call to identify untenable or unsustainable elements of capitalism, exposing its claim of realism as ideological. Focusing on late capitalism's anxiety-inducing, panicked temporal malaise, the article explores…

This article presents a theoretical consideration of some of the ways in which capitalist realism is shaping the field of higher popular music education. We begin by presenting an overview of our understanding of Fisher's concept and then offer a critical but hopeful consideration of the interconnected areas in which the business ontology that…

In this article, I explore how popular music became incorporated into the field of music education in the 21st-century United States. In doing so, I suspend notions of popular music education as simply inclusive or able to produce creative people. Instead, I question how inclusion becomes constructed and defined historically in relation to ideas…

Tensions between authoritarianism, pluralism, sectarianism, inclusion, diversity, and religious and national identity pervade and construct the possibilities of global discourse. In many ways, these tensions signal a retreat from reforms that require discomfort, reflexive engagements, courage. This retreat manifests in policies, both real and…

In this article, I explore the theoretical and analytical potential of the concept of genring, which here refers to productive acts of temporary interpretation and signification, wherein existing classification systems and genre categories in the social are operationalized and (re)negotiated. Foucault and Butler's theories of discursive subjection…

The purpose of this philosophical inquiry is to problematize the assumptions underlying elementary music teachers' choice to both erase folk songs from their curricula and to replace lyrics with racist associations. Erasing is defined as a process in which music educators remove certain folk songs with racist origins entirely from their…

This paper offers an invitation to higher music education communities to think differently about the significance of the connections between music and play. We highlight the many texts that articulate these connections and draw together a speculative ontological claim that all musicking is an enactment of play. In other words, we ask how…

Since post-war II, music education has advocated its presumed aesthetic benefits. "Aesthetic advocacy" became instituted through the abundance of publications by Bennett Reimer (e.g., 1970, 1989, 1995, 2003). That aesthetic meme is still influential. The debate about "Music Education as Aesthetic Education" MEAE may be…