Author: Hedy Law
Publication details: In East Asian Voices of Resistance Against Racism in Music, edited by Maiko Kawabata and Ken Ueno, 138–149. Cambridge: Ethics Press, 2025.
Weblink: ethicspress.com/products/east-asian-voices-of-resistance-against-racism-in-music
Abstract:
The negative racialization of East Asian musicians in Western classical music manifests through tropes of othering such as “Yellow Peril,” Orientalism, and various harmful stereotypes. This volume centers East Asian voices – in collaboration with our allies – as narrators of our own racialized experiences in music.
Featuring eleven contributions, in a mixture of tone that is academic and personal or reflective – thus deliberately disrupting conventional linguistic norms – the volume brings together our voices in a creative act of resistance against racism in music, and in solidarity with activism that targets inequalities in the arts more broadly. The volume is, to our knowledge, the first of its kind. Intended for musicians and artists, academics and students, it will dynamize topical conversations circling around issues of equality, diversity and inclusion so as to contribute towards positive change.