Nichola Wood

The Art of Doing (Geographies of) Music

Like every other work of art, music has become the stuff of social research: it has been interrogated for its economy, its politics, and its role in elaborating human life. Music has its geographies too: its cultural landscapes; its positioning in a soundworld; its embodiment; its materiality. But, intriguingly, until recently musical methodologies have remained half formed, fragmentary, hidden, elusive, out of sight, beyond words. This is partly a result of disciplinary histories and an unhelpful division of intellectual labour; it is partly an expression of what music is. This paper is a performance enacted to assemble the field of musical methodologies: to enlarge its scope; to engage with its strengths and limitations; to animate the soundworld; to participate in the art of doing and being (geographies of) music.

Instrumental routes to emotional geographies

Emotional experiences and relationships have traditionally been marginalized in human geography despite their impact on all aspects of social life. We argue, however, that understanding emotions is crucial for appreciating how the world of human (inter)actions works. To develop this argument we address two key questions. First, we ask how it is possible for social scientists to access the intimate emotional content of human affairs. One answer to this lies in settings where the emotional dimensions of social relations are deliberately and routinely enhanced. The example we take is that of musical performance. Second, we consider what might be done with these emotional ways of knowing once they have been acquired. What relevance does emotional knowing and being have? To address this, we turn to the relatively neglected concept of social well‐being, and we outline some ways in which ‘musicking’ might be used to promote it. These include music as therapy; music as a way of enhancing quality of life; and music as a medium of empowerment.

Playing with ‘Scottishness’: musical performance, non-representational thinking and the ‘doings’ of national identity

From the mid-1980s the influence of identity politics and poststructuralism has sought to replace the idea of a ‘unified’ identity with the concept of dynamic, multiple and fractured identities. However, it has been suggested that there is an ontological problem with researching dynamic conceptions of identity and that all too often people treat forming and formative processes (such as the makings and doings of identity) as fixed and formed wholes. This article attempts to address this concern through an exploration of the ‘doings’ of Scottish national identities. Drawing on a nonrepresentational inspired study of (‘Scottish’) musical performances the project presented in this article seeks to explore how a study of the ephemeral, emotionally charged moments of (‘Scottish’) musical performance might shed new light on the nature and (re)production of Scottish national identities in the making or the doing. This article therefore makes a contribution to understandings of ‘Scottishness’ (as lived experiences), but, it also makes a contribution to the geographies of music literature by highlighting the need to further explore the practical and performative dimensions of ‘musicking’.

Fixity and Flux: A Critique of Competing Approaches to Researching Contemporary Jewish Identities

Jewish identities are becoming increasingly pluralised due to internal dynamics within Judaism and wider social processes such as secularisation, globalisation and individualisation. However, empirical research on contemporary Jewish identities often continues to adopt restrictive methodological and conceptual approaches that reify Jewish identity and portray it as a ‘product’ for educational providers and others to pass to younger generations. Moreover, these approaches typically impose identities upon individuals, often as a form of collective affiliation, without addressing their personal significance. In response, this article argues for increased recognition of the multiple and fluid nature of personal identities in order to investigate the diverse ways in which Jews live and perform their Jewishness. Paying greater attention to personal identities facilitates recognition of the intersections between different forms of identity, enabling more complex understandings of the ways in which individuals both define their own identities and contribute to redefining the boundaries of Jewishness.