Sound Praxis in Times of Uncertainty; Considerations about the Dilemmas of Musical Research in Post-2016 Brazil

Abstract

The movements and resistance observed in the Brazilian political framework since 1985, after the end of the dictatorial regime implemented by a civil-military coup in 1964, impress both by its diversity and by some characteristics that seem to be common and immanent to them. Combating endemic corruption, or the struggles and tactical agreements between neoliberalism, neodevelopmentalism and redistributivism are only some of the markers of such diversity of perspectives, which have found majority support among the Brazilian electorate, with decisive repercussions for the direction of research on music and the arts in the country. This paper will reflect on the implications for the policies and practices of investigation in ethnomusicology of the recent changes in the Brazilian political conjuncture, taking as milestones the impeachment of Dilma Roussef in 2016 and the election in 2018 of a government led by a representative of the extreme right.