This workshop questions the widespread assumption that music inherently brings people together. From concert halls to international festivals, music is often celebrated as a universal language – a belief embedded in liberal internationalism, cultural diplomacy, and the rhetoric of soft power.

These frameworks commonly present music as a harmonizing force capable of bridging ideological divides and fostering mutual understanding. Yet this celebratory narrative obscures a deeper tension: music’s disruptive potential. Its ability to challenge norms, create friction, and complicate official narratives is often more politically significant than its unifying qualities. The same structures that deploy music to symbolize peace and cooperation also depend on its capacity to provoke, alienate, and unsettle.

This workshop explores that paradox: can music unite and divide at the same time – and under what conditions?

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