CFP: Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, Special Issue on Language and Power in Music Therapy

[AMS]

Language and power are complex and dynamic notions with different meanings for different people in different contexts. The topic of power and language in music therapy theory and practice includes, but is not limited to, subtopics, for example:

i) Consequences of the dominance of the English language and consequently of Western World/Global North publications in the field of music therapy

ii) The potential dominance of spoken language over all the other ways people communicate.

iii) How language is used to describe musical and other non-verbal processes, and what might be missed

iv) The (often ableist) terminology we use to describe people, processes and outcomes in music therapy, and the power relations related to this

v) The language that is used to describe and legitimize practice and research within and outside the field of music therapy and the challenges related to this

vi) How language takes part in sustaining power relationships

Notably, language is not just a resource for description, but also for domination, struggle, and communication. With this special issue, we therefore hope to illuminate questions such as: “Whose knowledge and whose voices are (or aren’t) being heard and seen in music therapy and how?” We welcome submissions using various forms of communication, including poems, drawings, photos, videos, and written academic accounts. If you have other ideas of how you would like to communicate your ideas, please ask – we will probably say yes. Contributions could address any parts of the topic, including parts we haven’t listed. They could include theoretical explorations, reflective essays, arts-based responses and case studies.

We welcome submissions from people with any kind of practical experience of music therapy, including participating in it, facilitating it, or working with people who facilitate it, as well as people with theoretical interest in the topic of language and power in music therapy.

We can review in Brazilian Portuguese, English, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Norwegian, and we ask you to provide a translation in one of these languages. We expect to publish in the author’s preferred language and at least one other language of their choice.

FOR SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION SEE WEB SITE: https://voices.no/index.php/voices/announcement/view/81