In Foreign Policy, Elizabeth McAlister—a member of the SSRC Working Group on Spirituality, Political Engagement, and Public Life—writes on recent electoral victory of Haitian pop star Michel Martelly and how music shapes politics in Haiti:
The Haitian audioscape is as vibrant and blaring as the country’s brightly painted “tap-tap” buses. Music is entertainment, but it is also a form of work, a form of prayer, and a form of politics. In a country where the median age is 21 and most people are not literate, listening is a refined skill and sonic information is knowledge.
Read the entire article at here.