Music and the Class Struggle: The History of American Music
Music permeates our daily lives in a million and one ways: In our TV shows and films, in restaurants and bars, at weddings, at funerals, at sporting events, at graduations, etc. As an industry it brings in about 61 Billion Dollars in revenue every year in the United States alone. Music has acted as the soundtrack for labor movements, crises, victories, and tragedies throughout history and enriches our lives at both our happiest and saddest. Music is a thoroughly and completely human affair that has existed since the very beginning of human life on this planet. And as the Roman playwright Terrence once said, “I am human, and I consider nothing that is human to be foreign to me”. To that end the Marxist Revolutionary that is dedicated to raising the level of the proletariat both politically and culturally must take a thorough interest and study in all things Art, Music, and Culture.
This talk will discuss the general development of music through the lens of American Music and its relationship to the Class Struggle. From early primitive music, to the commodification of music, development of instruments and technology, and the rise of Jazz, American Experimentalism, and Rock Music, the rich history of American Music highlights the internal contradictions of class society and how music can often communicate the thoughts and ideas of a given society.
This discussion will be introduced by Josh Bennett, a leading member of the RCA in Phoenix.
Reading list:
Articles
- Art and the Class Struggle – Alan Woods
- Class and Art – Leon Trotsky
- Beethoven: man, composer and revolutionary – Alan Woods
- Shostakovich, the musical conscience of the Russian Revolution – Alan Woods
- Marxism, Materialism and Art – Rupert O’shea
Booklets
