Rainer Prokop, Rosa Reitsamer, Higher Music Education and Employability in a Neoliberal World, Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.
This volume, edited by mdw scholars Rainer Prokop and Rosa Reitsamer, presents an excellent collection of articles that critically examine how neoliberalism has shaped recent changes in music education policies and programmes. It is a must-read for music professionals and educational personnel who seek to understand how music universities have changed to prioritize efficiency and profit while adapting curricula to the demands of a precarious music labour market.
The articles’ authors explore two controversial consequences of these changes. First, by prioritising skills-oriented courses, music universities and students may allocate less time and fewer resources to artistic growth. Second, the market-oriented character of such programmes may result in a failure to develop critical thinking and social commitment among students (Chapters 1, 3, 4, 15).
The book is particularly thought-provoking where it addresses the complex challenges that music universities currently face. These include how students are frequently viewed and treated as customers—which has led to the exploitation of international students and particularly students from Asia, who face stereotyping and often find less opportunities for growth within universities and in the European labour market (Chapters 2, 12). Moreover, the issues addressed include ones long treated as taboo within conservatoires such as the hierarchical relationships between teachers and students in one-on-one lessons. The power imbalances inherent in such pedagogy frequently result in situations of abuse that include gender-specific misconduct and sexual harassment (Chapter 7). Another critical concern is the continued reliance on a Eurocentric educational tradition that privileges the Western, white male-dominated classical canon. This not only reinforces the perceived superiority of classical music over other genres but also marginalises women and non-Western, non-white musicians, whose contributions are often seen as less legitimate (Chapters 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, Epilogue). The book also offers critical reflections concerning recent institutional efforts pertaining to diversity and inclusion, arguing that most of these are ineffectual; i.e., they embrace supposedly progressive rhetoric without promoting actual change (Chapters 6, 8, 11).
Furthermore, some of the contributions to this volume explore how neoliberalism has shaped the careers of other music-related professionals such as teachers, music promoters, DIY producers, and music therapists, most of which are affected not only by market forces but also by gender stereotypes (Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15).
This book does also, however, feature some uplifting examples of alternative approaches to music education. Multiple chapters illustrate how teachers, conservatoires, and curricula can contribute to decolonising music education, challenging music hierarchies, and fostering more inclusive environments. The fact that most of these examples come from popular music education programmes focussed on genres such as jazz, pop, bluegrass, and hip hop (Chapters 3, 4, 5, 9) and/or employ technology to enhance access for less-privileged students (Chapter 10) confirms the point, made by most of the authors here, that Eurocentric education has limited transformative and emancipatory power.
Thanks to efforts by the mdw, this book is available as an open-access publication.
