PEACE THROUGH MUSIC AND ITS INFLUENCE

I will attempt to raise questions on how the activities of music and musical influence can be understood as a form of non-violent political participation. I will firstly introduce the basis of political dissent in the first part of the essay. The theory behind this is based on the writings of Robert Martin (2014) is to give a broader understanding of what political opposition is through nonviolent means. I will also use the readings by Étienne de La Boetié for a clearer understanding of the ideology behind nonviolent practices. I will further develop my argument to the question of how music is used as an instrument for practice of non-violence. I will try to establish how musical performances and influence can be legitimately incorporated into the political sphere. As explained earlier, music has a huge influence onto people, therefore the studies around this essay will be of to how impactful can musical influence be to create action and its relevancy towards non-violent practices. In the second part of the research essay I will introduce the background of the Bed-In Movement in 1969 as an example of a popularized music-based non-violent protest. The reason behind this is to limit the perimeter of the research towards a popular movement. The essay will furthermore develop into two major subtitles to explain the power of musical influence and the extent of music as an instrument of non-violence. I will derive this study with a few more examples of music as a social mover to support my argument. The methodology used in this essay is qualitative because I will compare the influence of music of that in the Bed-in Movement and the development of music as an instrument of non-violence in modern time. This study is significant because it gives a new perception of how music as a form of art can unite people and create change through non-violent conducts.