David Novak, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, University of California Santa Barbara
Sound Demos and the Politics of Protest in Post-3.11 Japan
Co-sponsor: The Performance/Politics Working Group at the Humanities Institute
The summer of 2012 saw an explosion of public protest in Japan, specifically aimed at the restart of nuclear reactors that been shut down following the tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. Each Friday in Tokyo, a growing crowd gathered in front of Prime Minister Noda's offices, beating drums, chanting antinuclear slogans, and citizens eventually surrounded the Diet Building with a human chain estimated at over 100,000 people. Noda initially dismissed the protests as "just noise." But as the sound of protest grew louder, the government has been forced to "listen carefully" to the "unvoiced voices" of public dissent: Read more
David Novak is an assistant professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Santa Barbara, California. His work deals with the globalization of popular music, media technologies, experimental culture, and social practices of listening.
