Gender Issues as Criticism Within (New) Music Institutions

Abstract

AbstractWhy is the thematisation of gender linked to social criticism and criticism of music institutions as well as criticism of music as institution? Institutions and institutionalised organisations should be regarded as intermediate instances located between society as a whole and the individual. In them, gender relations are created and reproduced, discussed, and transformed. The thematisation of gender and the associated criticism within institutions then means, above all, dealing with gender-specific power relations. Moreover, the spectrum of approaches in art and art studies for thematising gender ranges from criticism of the exclusion of women from history to criticism of the dominance of certain discourses. Therefore, the integration of gender in the field of music implies aspects and measures of institutional gender equality policy as well as fundamental perspectives critical of music discourses, music theory, and musicology, and thus also institutionally critical perspectives.