Colonialism and Music Therapy

Music and healing can be found across both ancient and current cultures. This book offers a concentrated attempt to deepen and broaden understandings that music therapy as a disciplinary practice serves as a site of institutional power in or over the space where health and music intersect. To do so, the book offers contributions on a variety of topics from a wide range of contributors from different cultural and regional contexts – referred to collectively as the Colonialism and Music Therapy Interlocuters (CAMTI). The topics in this book cover contemporary practice in former colonies, navigating between indigenous knowledges and colonial knowledge/practices, being the cultural ‘other’ in music therapy education and practice spaces, intersections between ableism and colonial notions of health, and explorations of music therapy’s historical and ongoing reliance on colonial systems. In an effort to make space for diverse perspectives and ways of knowing these topics, contributions range from poem, prayer and song to conversations between groups of practitioners and interested parties, as well as essays.

In essence, this book aims to start a conversation. It is an invitation for music therapists and other practitioners to reflect on how the vestiges of colonialism may or may not continue to impact their practice. It also offers a range of ideas and concepts which individuals and organizations can begin to explore in the interest of operating in anti-colonial or de-colonial ways. Ultimately, it is hoped that this book encourages a shift to honoring diverse contributions to the music and health space – as this is a space we collectively share.