Popular Music and the Rise of Populism in Europe during the Corona Crisis (Additional Coronal-related funding)

How do populist actors and musicians actively shape new societal conditions through their political and musical responses to the Corona crisis? This module promises much-needed insights into how populist actors and musicians realign their goals and strategies, seeking to establish a hegemonic position in society. Whereas current research on populist responses to Covid-19 focuses primarily on party politics and radical subcultures, this module sheds light on how mainstream music culture helps to forge new populist coalitions and normalize populist ideologies in milieus hitherto distant from populist politics. Through an analysis of the changing political, cultural, and economic context, participant observation in online concerts and populist events, as well as the musicological analysis of "Corona songs", this project module illuminates how the Corona crisis offers new opportunities yet also poses new challenges for the normalization of populist discourses, especially in connection with popular music.