On the interconnectedness of music and peacebuilding: A scoping review informing music education

This interdisciplinary study explores the interconnectedness between music and peacebuilding. The concept of interconnectedness shapes this study, in response to rapidly evolving global circumstances that require fresh interpretations of both peacebuilding and music. Through a scoping review, the aim of this study is to explore the characteristics of the available research literature bringing together music and peacebuilding. The explorative starting point is to examine both music and peacebuilding as social systems, focusing on their purposes and the respective contexts in which they operate. This study seeks to bridge the knowledge gap that remains, despite existing research, in identifying how this interconnectedness could be brought to life, and how it could inform the reflection of purposes and meanings in music education. A scoping review was conducted with 34 studies from 2013 to 2023. The inductive content analysis displayed geographic diversity with a specific focus on areas of past or present conflict. The characteristics of the studies were diverse, yet a tendency toward employing qualitative, ethnographic data was noticeable. As a result, five categories of interconnectedness between music and peacebuilding were identified: (a) music supporting understanding between differing groups, (b) music forming narratives to build peace, (c) music building peace within specific community settings, (d) music integrated into educational frameworks for peacebuilding, and (e) theoretical viewpoints on the interconnectedness between music and peacebuilding. These could be interpreted as glimpses of an emerging system, situated at the intersection of peacebuilding, music, and music education.