Red Wedge: An Examination of Economic and Political Ethnomusicology in Britain

Paige Soewrby, The College of Wooster

Abstract

This senior thesis will utilize a qualitative methodological approach in anthropology in addressing the subject of ethnoimlsicology. It will include an ethnography which resulted from my field study in Britain. This study was carried out with a leftist alliance of entertainers called Red Wedge. I focused mainly upon the economic and political issues which they were addressing and their means for conveying these concerns to the British youth culture. This ethnography will consider the perspectives of infonnant exegesis and data obtained from participant observation. This thesis will analyze song lyrics in terms of economic and political theories in ethnomusicology. In doing this, we will see how these theories are applicable and how they can be validated through an analysis of song texts. This will result in a greater understanding of both the music and of British society as a whole.