Music, bodies and violence in action: The case of narcocorridos music in Mexico

HYBRID EVENT – EDINBURGH NAPIER/TEAMS

Music, bodies and violence in action: The case of narcocorridos music in Mexico

Speaker: Dr Sergio Sorcia Reyes (PhD Sociology) University of Exeter

Narcocorridos is a controversial popular music from Mexico. This genre promotes narratives and depictions of drug trafficking, the consumption of alcohol, and violence as positive behaviours.

In this session, Sergio will show the powerful role of popular music as an organising force in everyday life. This empirically grounded study moves away from establishing causal relationships between music and violence. Instead, he shows the complex interactions of music, implicit knowledge, space, and situated behaviour, showing how music can inform and frame collective forms of agency such as alcohol consumption and violence in the public space.

Bio:

Sergio is an independent community musician and music sociologist from Mexico. He has recently completed a PhD in Sociology at the University of Exeter under the Global Excellence Scholarship for International Students. His research focuses on the multiple uses of popular music in everyday life, with a particular interest in collective forms of engagement in the public space. An important part of his work as a facilitator involves delivering songwriting workshops in prisons in Mexico City. Along with Jo Parsons, he is the managing editor of the Journal Music and Arts in Action.

Photo: Narco Cultura documentary film by Shaul Schwarz (2013).

This event has been organised by colleagues at Edinburgh Napier University.