Collaborative songwriting as and for artistic activism

Abstract

This article explores collaborative songwriting as a form of artistic activism – the creation, performance and/or distribution of art to advance social justice – and demonstrates its potential both in terms of the process of songwriting and the songs that result from it. In doing so, it compares two songwriting workshops facilitated as part of Sex Worker’s Opera (SWO), a grassroots musical theatre project by and for sex workers, drawing on participant observation, archival research and music elicitation interviews. In unpacking the contingent nature of this potential, it evaluates the practical significance of different intentions and material constraints, approaches to fostering ownership and solidarity, and the balance between structure and freedom in facilitating the workshops. Critically, the findings suggest that public engagement, alongside a commitment to community leadership, can help to harness the activist potential of the practice. Looking at how collaborative songwriting can function as and for artistic activism – through creative processes and cultural products – the article emphasizes the opportunity this practice offers for marginalized groups to reclaim cultural space and to challenge norms of silencing in both the cultural and political spheres.