Music may contribute to exclusion

Music is not merely an activity that creates meaning and community. Music is also a social game that encompasses contradictions and conflicts and can contribute to social inequality and exclusion.

This theme is explored in the new book "The Double Game of Music – Paradoxes of Power, Status and Class in Music Education", edited by, among others, NMH researchers Anne Jordhus-Lier and Siw Graabræk Nielsen. In addition to the editors, NMH professor Sidsel Karlsen is also among the contributors.

In a world where music is often celebrated as an important tool for inclusion and democratisation, this book represents an alternative voice.

The authors explore music teaching and music pedagogy in a broad sense as a series of games – each with its own rules, players, values, and currencies. The reader is challenged to rethink the significance of music and music education in shaping, maintaining, and potentially transforming cultural and social structures.

The book can already be pre-ordered and will be openly available on the Manchester University Press website from 16 December.

The official launch will take place at Litteraturhuset on 22 January 2026. More information about this event will follow.

Editors of the book are Live Weider Ellefsen, Petter Dyndahl, Anne Jordhus-Lier, and Siw Graabræk Nielsen, with chapters co-authored by Sidsel Karlsen, Ingeborg Lunde, Kari Marie Manum, Friederike Merkelbach, and Odd Skårberg, all affiliated with the University of Inland Norway and/or the Norwegian Academy of Music.