In the course of the 60th anniversary of the Department of Music Sociology at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2025, the mdw proposes with this conference “The Archival Turn in Music Sociology” in order to acknowledge the contributions of female, feminist, queer and post-/decolonial scholars, musicians, activists, and archivists to the history of music sociology and to critically engage with the historiographies of music’s past. Physical and digital archives play an important role in these processes. They are sites and practices of knowledge formation, cultural production, and activism and provide means to engage with the past to understand the construction of temporalities, histories, and heritage and to question the canon. We invite individual paper presentations from researchers at different stages, activists, archivists, and other cultural workers whose research and/or practices address the broader evolving dynamics of archives and music. The contribution format should be max. 20 minutes (plus 10 minutes of Q&A). Regarding submission-related questions see: www.mdw.ac.at/ims/events/the-archival-turn-in-music-sociology
Abstract submission:
Abstracts (max. 300 words in English), along with a short bio (ca. 50 words in English, including name and institutional affiliation), should be submitted until 28 September 2025 to: musiksoziologie@mdw.ac.at Notifications of acceptance: mid-October 2025
