Critical Perspectives on Comparative Musicology and Music Studies, 1885-1950 Call for Papers

This workshop invites contributions that critically engage with the historical development of (comparative) musicology and music studies and their legacies in contemporary music research. It focuses on the systemic power structures that shaped knowledge production about music and cultural difference. Its scope includes issues of imperialism, colonialism, modernity, and scientific hegemony, along with questions regarding race, class, gender, and other inequity concerns.

Spanning the period between 1885 and 1950—a time marked by world wars, colonial expansion and decline, and foundational shifts in global academia—this workshop examines how musical knowledge was produced, transmitted, and racialized within and across national traditions. Yet, the legacy of early music research, with its entanglements in racial science and imperial power, persists not only in archival materials and analytic categories but also in the ways music is taught, researched, and valued. This workshop thus seeks not only to historicize these dynamics but also to interrogate their contemporary manifestations and to consider how the field might move toward more equitable and reflexive scholarly practices.

We invite contributions that address topics including (but not limited to):

·       The influence of race science and colonial epistemologies on early musicological theory

·       Comparative musicology’s entanglement with colonial epistemologies and institutions

·       Contemporary critical re-readings of early ethnographic recordings, collections, and writings

·       The racialization of sound, music, and musical others in early musicology and anthropology

·       Theoretical reflections on representation and music in Euroamerican historiography

·       Institutional genealogies of race, gender, class, and music research in the Americas and Europe

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short bio (max. 150 words) to julio.mendivil(at)univie.ac.at, boh6(at)uchicago.edu and vickymm(at)uchicago.edu by September 8, 2025. The workshop will take place October 29-30, 2025 at the University of Chicago.