Building Connections While Maintaining the Band: The Challenging Politics of Inclusion in Activist Work
Naomi Podber
This chapter examines processes of political development and inclusion in a New York-based street band called the Rude Mechanical Orchestra (RMO), which has spent the past 15 years using music to support grassroots struggles against injustice. Interviews with band members revealed a tension between two competing forces: generous, or widening, inclusion, in which the band members work to expand their sense of community, and provisional inclusion, in which members privilege the integrity and coherence of the group over the desire to stretch borders. As the band seeks to connect with more social justice movements and communities, a paradoxical effect occurs: the band’s commitment to wide inclusion and justice leads to a shrinking of its internal boundaries, as members strive to keep the band a safe and united space for themselves and their community. This finding reflects broader tensions that exist within much political organizing and is relevant beyond the work of an individual street band.
Naomi Podber is a PhD candidate in Critical Social/Personality Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center, focusing on the intersection of music and social justice. She teaches Psychology college courses as well as classroom music and band to children in NYC. She is a founding member of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
Naomi Podber
This chapter examines processes of political development and inclusion in a New York-based street band called the Rude Mechanical Orchestra (RMO), which has spent the past 15 years using music to support grassroots struggles against injustice. Interviews with band members revealed a tension between two competing forces: generous, or widening, inclusion, in which the band members work to expand their sense of community, and provisional inclusion, in which members privilege the integrity and coherence of the group over the desire to stretch borders. As the band seeks to connect with more social justice movements and communities, a paradoxical effect occurs: the band’s commitment to wide inclusion and justice leads to a shrinking of its internal boundaries, as members strive to keep the band a safe and united space for themselves and their community. This finding reflects broader tensions that exist within much political organizing and is relevant beyond the work of an individual street band.
Naomi Podber is a PhD candidate in Critical Social/Personality Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center, focusing on the intersection of music and social justice. She teaches Psychology college courses as well as classroom music and band to children in NYC. She is a founding member of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
