Wednesday 25 November 2026
Why does music play such a powerful role in protest? From chanting in the streets to standing among an excited crowed at a festival, music has a unique ability to unite people. This second series of the Music That Changes The World-lectures explore how music functions in protest settings, focusing on how it is received and experienced by protesters and audiences. We’ll look at why music is crucial in turning a crowd into a collective and how it can channel emotion into action.
This lecture is part of a series:
30-09: Sounds of protest: music, resistance, recognition
28-10: Champagne for the proletariat: Class-related Issues in Dutch Protest Songs
25-11: Humor, music, and activism: can laughter change the world?
16-12: “There’s Some Women in This House!”: Hip Hop Feminism and Sounds of Resistance
You can now buy a combi ticket before the first lecture, via this link.
This programme is in English.
Lecture 3 – Humor, music, and activism: can laughter change the world?
Politics and protest music are usually serious business. Still, in the age of YouTube and TikTok, many humorous, funny, and sometimes absurd songs, parodies, and soundbites are used to communicate political messages. In this event, based on recent examples, we will reflect on the political potential of laughter and the limits of what it can do: together with PhD candidate Joanna Zienkiewicz.
About the lecturer:
Joanna Zienkiewicz has recently finished writing her PhD on protest music against populist parties in contemporary Poland at the University of Groningen. She published multiple articles on popular music and politics in renowned open access journals such as Music & Politics and M/C – A Journal of Media and Culture, and presented at international conferences in Europe and the US. In her work so far, she focused on cases from Poland but also Sweden and the US.
