Roles of music and culture in reducing poverty

Project Description

The project explores: (1) the potential of music, especially “traditional” music, to contribute to poverty reduction efforts, and (2) the relationships between poverty and the sustainability of musical and other cultural expressions.

In its first phase, the project worked with youth musicians in Cambodia to gauge their experiences and perspectives on potential strategies for arts-based socioeconomic improvement in that country.

In its second (ongoing) phase, the project examines the role of music in poverty mitigation strategies more generally. It also seeks to understand the relationships between poverty and cultural sustainability, especially the sustainability of “traditional” cultural expressions.

This second phase involves collaboration with NGO Banglanatak, which works across India to understand, develop, and implement culture-based approaches to socioeconomic empowerment, especially of women, people living rurally, and people from minoritised or marginalised groups.

Project Personnel and Beneficiaries

The first phase of the project involved youth musicians in Cambodia, and sought to inform government and NGO discussions and decisions relating to culture, society, and economy.

The second phase of the project seeks to benefit culture-bearers, NGOs (in Cambodia, India, and beyond), policy-makers, arts industry bodies, international agencies like UNESCO, and researchers, who stand to gain from new understandings of the relationships between poverty and (traditional) cultural practices, and of the potential for poverty alleviation and cultural sustainability efforts to work in support of each other.

Outcomes to Date

The project has informed policy of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts relating to strategies supporting youth participation and engagement with traditional music and the arts. It has also contributed to theoretical understanding of the relationships between poverty and cultural sustainability.

Outputs to date include articles in the International Journal of Cultural Policy (2022), ‘No Poverty’: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2021), and SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture (2019); posts on the public-facing Oxford University Press Blog and Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies Dialogue Blog; and a range of dissemination activities (in-person / online presentations, invited keynotes, teaching engagements, workshops) in Australia, Portugal, Norway, Nigeria, Ghana, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, USA, and Kazakstan.