MUSIC THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Name: MUSIC THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Start: 2025-09-25T20:00
End: 2025-09-25T22:30
Location: GR8

College 1: Sounds of protest: music, resistance, recognition

Thursday 25 September 2025

Protest and music have been inextricably linked for decades—and today, they are more relevant than ever. From Yoko Ono and John Lennon advocating for world peace from an Amsterdam hotel bed in 1969, to Atari Teenage Riot providing a radical soundtrack to the May Day demonstrations in Berlin in the late ’90s. From Sophie Straat, who urged people to vote for women with her song Tweede Kamer, to the controversy surrounding Bob Vylan’s statement Death to the IDF.

In the opening lecture, I’ll take you through the many intersections where music and protest meet. Why do they so often go hand in hand? What issues are musicians fighting against? What forms does that protest take and how does it impact audiences and politics? And of course: does protest music really make a difference?

You can visit eacht college individually, or buy a combiticket for all four dates:
25-09: Sounds of protest: music, resistance, recognition
30-10: Sound Against Silence: Music in Pro-Palestinian Protest
27-11: Sounds of precariousness: why do musicians protest?
21-12: Sounds That Unite, Songs That Divide: Protest Music in Polarised Times

This programme is in English.

Ticket College 1 Combiticket

LocationGR8
Doors open19:30
Start20:00

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About the lecturer;

Pauwke Berkers is Professor of Sociology of Popular Music at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research focuses on inclusion, well-being, and resilience in music industries. He co-founded the Rotterdam Popular Music Studies (RPMS) group and co-authored Gender in Metal Music Production. Berkers investigates how gender and ethnicity shape participation in popular music, and his projects explore diversity in festivals, resilience in creative work, and the role of protest music.

In 2023, he delivered his inaugural lecture, What Music Means: Industry, Society, Sociology, highlighting how music connects to major societal themes like equality, social cohesion, and enchantment. A lifelong punk enthusiast and passionate tape collector, Berkers combines academic rigor with a deep love for music and its role in shaping society.