Cut the Sound: The Role of Musician Strikes in Movements for Societal Change

Abstract

This thesis examines the potential for musicians to contribute to societal change, on global and local scales, by engaging in strike action. While reaffirming the potent impacts of the music they create, it posits that musicians, as a result of their place within the economic structures of capitalism, also hold the ability to contribute to societal good through its strategic withdrawal. Through case study analysis of the 2022 Sydney Festival strike, it argues that musician strikes contribute to local and global societal change through directly and effectively challenging the intertwined economic and cultural processes which constitute destructive hegemonic forms.