Sounds of the City Collapsing: Hearing Urban Crisis in New York City, 1969-1974
Loading...
No Access Until
Permanent Link(s)
Collections
Other Titles
Authors
Abstract
This dissertation explores the complex relationships between the municipal government and marginalized groups in New York City during the early 1970s, namely Afro-Caribbean immigrant communities in the South Bronx and genderqueer bohemian communities in Lower Manhattan. Through an analysis of grassroots music scenes, I argue that young people defiantly turned towards music as a source of empowerment in the face of marginalizing narratives circulated in news media. This reaction sparked two separate but contemporaneous music movements that came to be known as punk rock and hip-hop. The form of empowerment sounded different to each group, predicated on factors such as class, race, gender expression and sexual identity. For punk, the predominantly white and genderqueer scene in Lower Manhattan used music as a mechanism to critique traditional binary gender-based identities. Music and performance became a platform for transgender political expression. At the same time, further uptown in the South Bronx, the origins of hip-hop took root in predominantly black and Latino communities. Dance parties and fundraisers, first used as a means to meet the costs of living, became a social setting in which new artists on the scene could experiment with mixed music, rapping and other deejaying techniques. For each group, the use of music was a mechanism to respond to overwhelming government inattention or neglect and operated as a means of communication about the claimed space, identity and sound of each group.
Journal / Series
Volume & Issue
Description
232 pages
Sponsorship
Date Issued
2020-05
Publisher
Keywords
1970s; hip-hop; music; New York City; punk; urban crisis
Location
Effective Date
Expiration Date
Sector
Employer
Union
Union Local
NAICS
Number of Workers
Committee Chair
Rickford, Russell
Committee Co-Chair
Committee Member
Glickman, Lawrence
Hausmann, Julilly
Hausmann, Julilly
Degree Discipline
History
Degree Name
Ph. D., History
Degree Level
Doctor of Philosophy
Related Version
Related DOI
Related To
Related Part
Based on Related Item
Has Other Format(s)
Part of Related Item
Related To
Related Publication(s)
Link(s) to Related Publication(s)
References
Link(s) to Reference(s)
Previously Published As
Government Document
ISBN
ISMN
ISSN
Other Identifiers
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
Rights URI
Types
dissertation or thesis