Call for Papers: International Journal of Community Music 

Special Issue: ‘Thinking More About Community Music’

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-community-music#call-for-papers

November 2024 saw the release of Thinking Community Music (OUP) by Lee Higgins. The book contains concepts and concerns the author considers relevant to contemporary community music practices. It presents eight ‘Think Pieces’, most of which respond to and elaborate on concepts found in Higgins’s other work, notably his 2012 publication, Community Music: In Theory and In Practice: intervention, hospitality, pedagogy, social justice, inclusion, cultural democracy, music, research, and future possibilities.

The publication of Thinking Community Music is timely, in that it follows a pandemic experience that, while devastating for many in the community music field, has afforded time for reflection. What does the term ‘community music’ really mean? Does community music, as a field of practice, have a place in the world today, and if so, what might it be and what should those who are passionate about it be doing?

Taking a cue from Thinking Community Music the IJCM is planning a special issue that offers experienced and emerging community music authors an opportunity to take stock of our field — to ‘think more’ about community music.

• Have the environments and/or contexts through which community music happens shifted in the last decade? If so, how? And has the practice and concepts that lay behind it responded?
• Which long-standing concepts endure? Have they become more refined over time or receded in importance? Is there a need for new concepts and theories that better respond to contemporary times?
• Who is working in the field, what skills are required and where do you go to develop them?
• How has the funding landscape changed in various jurisdictions and what are the consequences of these changes for the practice?
• Who sets the agenda for community music and are the policy makers and practitioners in dialogue?

Essays or ‘think pieces’ of 2000-4000 words in length are sought for this issue (19.1), due for publication Spring 2026. For consistency we suggest that the submissions reflects the following format:

• a guiding question
• illustration(s) of practice or examples that ground the ideas
• a provocation and/or some theoretical/historical exploration
• exploratory thoughts and reflections
• closing remarks that consider further questions and/or consider what might be rather than what is

Timeline:

Authors should send an expression of interest to ijcommunitymusic@gmail.com by 1 February 2025. Completed manuscripts are expected by 1 September 2025.