CISA–Sonic practices of resistance and activism
“Soundscapes of Resistance: Amplifying social justice activism and aural counterpublics through field recording-based sound practices”（NIMALAN YOGANATHAN）
Quote：
Fit the Description features a polyphony of contradictory lived experiences that are juxtaposed and conflict with each other within the radio listener’s audio stereo field as a metaphor for the chaotic tensions between protestors and authorities.
The singer’s voice with an echo effect added then infiltrates the foreground but only for a few seconds, after which it retreats back into silence. I suggest this intricate sonic play using strategic editing and sampling methods conveys a metaphor for the Palestinian people’s desperate struggle to preserve and amplify the remaining fragments of their culture amidst systemic displacement and statelessness.
Such complex, chaotic and noisy aural environmental conflicts must not be reduced to ‘lo-fi’ status in contrast with a supposedly healthier and ‘ecologically balanced’ environment. Instead, a decolonised and intersectional acoustic ecology praxis should think through how such overlapping sounds reveal contextual meanings related to social justice struggles unfolding in the streets of America and the West Bank. The noisy ecotonal soundscapes of protest conveyed through the case studies of this article symbolise the attempted construction of healthier democracies.
Review：
This article examines the use of field recordings to spread political messages, particularly in regard to environmental soundscapes. With a focus on three distinct case studies, it emphasises how sound activism, field recordings, and social justice problems intersect.
The first case study looks at the audio counter-surveillance and field recordings made by Kantako of police encounters in Springfield, Illinois’s John Hay Homes low-income housing complex in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The second case study examines the West Bank recording artist Muqata’a’s album Inkanakuntu, which features real-time recordings of Ramallah’s daily life and exemplifies acoustic resistance to Israeli occupation. The final case study examines DeLaurenti’s experimental radio documentary Fit the Description, which makes use of real-time recordings of the demonstrations that took place in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown was killed by police.
These examples look at the repercussions of elevating marginalised and rebellious voices, which are frequently muted by official discourse and mainstream media. It is possible to understand the repurposing of microphones and oppressive audio technologies as a kind of resistance against systems of authority.
The article also emphasises how the intersectionality and racial dynamics of community interaction with the acoustic environment are frequently ignored by the dominant discourse in soundscape research. As a result, the authors push for a more moral and intersectional approach to soundscape research, highlighting how crucial it is to actively and empathetically pay attention to underrepresented groups.
In conclusion，this article explores the ways in which environmental soundscapes transform into sites of political struggle and profoundly influence the lived experiences of marginalised communities affected by police occupation and systemic racism. It does so by showing how sound practises based on field recordings can act as a form of political resistance.
“Sounds of Democracy: Performance, Protest, and Political Subjectivity”（LAURA KUNREUTHER）
Quote：
A second common association of voice with democracy appears in discussions of political representation, embodied in the notion of a representative democracy in which a politician claims to represent the voices of many.
But in using the same name as the movement that popularized the use of the human mic and its ideals, Occupy Baluwatar created many formal similarities to other global protest movements: its reliance on social media, the use of silence and noise, as well as the occupation of public space.
Though different in intention and to some degree audience, both the performance piece and the Occupy protest moved between the physical, public space of the street and the mediated public sphere of circulating texts and voices; both used sound strategically.
Crowds, and the noise they generate, typically address the embodied and affective dimensions of political subjectivity that cannot be clearly subsumed in a single political opinion. In contrast to the voice of the people, the roar of the crowd suggests an apolitical (or even antipolitical) dimension of those who have not yet found their voice to be represented. Yet, as I have argued here, āwāj is orchestrated sound that is clearly embodied, affective, and simultaneously constitutive of political subjects.
Review：
The connection between sound, performance, protest, and political subjectivity is examined in this paper. It makes a point on how political voice should go beyond simple discourse and the importance of both speaking up and remaining silent in democratic practise.
In spite of politicians claiming to represent the voices of many, marginalised voices still battle to be heard through a variety of activities and media, as discussed in this essay on the relevance of voice to democracy.
This article acknowledges the various political discourses as significant elements of participatory democracy, including collective chanting, noise for political effect, and active expressions of quiet.
Silence has the ability to highlight social solidarity, call attention to communication problems, and make a statement about censorship.
The radio transmission of screams during the national crisis in Nepal is one example of how voices have influenced the development of a feeling of subjectivity and national identity. The bodily and emotional aspects of political subjectivity are represented by many voices.
“FIVE PROTOCOLS FOR ORGANIZED LISTENING”（Ultra-red）
Quote：
WHAT DID YOU HEAR?
PROTOCOLS FOR FIELDWORK
PROTOCOLS FOR A SOUND WALK
PROTOCOLS FOR A LISTENING SESSION
PROTOCOLS FOR OBJECTS
There is a saying among Ultra-red members that some times the fastest way to get somewhere is to slow down.（pp.5）
Bending our ear to those histories, what protocols for listening might be composed within an accountability to struggle whether it is the constitutive processes of anti-racism, gender or sexual liberation, anti-capitalist autonomy, or the preferential option for the poor? Those struggles already involve their own practices wherein listening enacts solidarity and dialogue. The protocols for such listening produce not only consensus but also dissonance; the multivalence of subjectivities. Learning to listen is the intentional task of solidarity; listening in tension.（pp.2）
In the context of a sound investigation, fieldwork always involves a constitutive process—a process by which a group is composed. We can describe that process as learning to accompany something undetermined, something that the research will become. The composition of the group unfolds and alters through phases. Likewise, the field of investigation emerges through thematic and institutional transformation.（pp.9）
Review：
Ultra-red is renowned for both its musical creativity and its dedication to social justice causes. Their beliefs and techniques for involving communities through voice-based practise are laid out in this book.
They underline how important it is to listen in politics. They also argue that listening can be an active, transformative process that reveals covert social dynamics and power structures. They also argue that using voice in protest, public intervention, and community organising can be used as a tool for social change. They contest prevailing narratives and give individuals who are silenced or neglected the opportunity to be heard.
They believe it is crucial to establish listening procedures and dedicate oneself to battles like anti-racism, gender or sexual liberation, anti-capitalism, and prioritisation of the underprivileged in the pursuit of social justice and community participation.
By conducting a thorough survey or conducting fieldwork（which they think is very important), people can learn more about how their understanding of sound changes with the surroundings and how the process’s composition (such as the participants:groups) improves at various phases.