Antoine Hennion and the sociology of music

Abstract

The article examines the work of the sociologist of music Antoine Hennion and its relevance to cultural policy today. Beginning with a general consideration of his problematic status as an intellectual and his growing international reputation as a cultural theorist, it goes on to analyse his complex position on the music–society nexus, from which he posits the indivisibility of music and its uses. This leads him to develop a “pragmatics of taste”, from which a set of largely theoretical implications for cultural policy can be deduced. Hennion’s pragmatism suggests a relativization of genre, though not, he argues, an ethical or aesthetic relativism. Its application to the institutionalization of music, and of culture generally, also points to a possible third phase in the evolution of cultural studies.

KEYWORDS:

• sociology
• music
• pragmatism
• policy
• genre
• aesthetic values
• cultural studies

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the University of Leeds, and Antoine Hennion for their assistance with this article.

Notes

1. I am particularly indebted to one of The International Journal of Cultural Policy’s anonymous referees for usefully drawing my attention to and discussing this point.