Building social connection and inclusion through rock music in the Western Balkans: Fostering the art of small changes

Abstract

This article explores community-based rock music education as a site for strengthening social cohesion in a context of postwar, interethnic divisions. Focusing on small and incremental changes, it examines the practices of Music Connects, a project in the Western Balkans, and its goals of revitalizing rock culture in support of a more inclusive social life and greater freedom of movement in the region. The article explores the ways that an organizational and participant focus on aesthetic practices and artistic goals can still contribute to social goals. It highlights three key tasks connected to rock music education and revitalization, captured in the novel conceptual constructs of rehearsal space, the incubator, and the expansion of normal. Drawing upon qualitative data gathered in 2019 and 2021 from 40 participants, the article tells a story of small social changes through music-making that added up to significant developments in the region, musically and socially.