New Podcast Series: "Sounds of Justice"

‘Sounds of Justice ” is a new podcast series, hosted by human rights activist, Ignacio Saiz, for the Global Campus of Human Rights. 

The series brings together musicians, ethnomusicologists, earth justice advocates and ex-prisoners of war in a conversation around why music moves us, how it has shaped rights struggles across the globe, and what might change if we centre music, listening and sound in human rights activism and practice.

Listen to the series here: Human Rights Podcast Series | To The Righthouse – Global Campus

Featuring, amongst others, several SOAS lecturers and music graduates, episodes explore themes such as music and liberation politics in the African diaspora and the Indian anti-caste movement, the weaponisation of music in Guantanamo and Xinjiang, music in Haiti’s ecological struggles, and the power of Palestinian rap.

Professor Impey says:

Focusing on music from different cultural contexts compels us to engage in a politics of listening, of listening to how values, principles and interests are locally defined, communicated and protected. 

The series arises out of The Routledge Companion to Music and Human Rights, a major volume co-edited by Professor Angela Impey and published with the Routledge SOAS Studies in Music series.

Read the book: The Routledge Companion to Music and Human Rights

At a moment when attention is scarce and societies increasingly polarised, says Ignacio Saiz, "Sounds of Justice" explores how music connects us, and how listening can be an ethical act attuned to our times.

Image: South African singer and activist Busi Mhlongo (Foto24/Gallo Images via Getty Images)