The Double Game of Music

Music is not merely an activity that creates meaning and community. Music is also a social game that encompasses contradictions and conflicts and can contribute to social inequality and exclusion.

This theme is explored in the new book "The Double Game of Music – Paradoxes of Power, Status and Class in Music Education", edited by, among others, NMH researchers Anne Jordhus-Lier and Siw Graabræk Nielsen. In addition to the editors, NMH professor Sidsel Karlsen is also among the contributors.

In a world where music is often celebrated as an important tool for inclusion and democratisation, this book represents an alternative voice.

I en verden hvor musikk gjerne hylles som et viktig verktøy for inkludering og demokratisering, representerer denne boken en alternativ stemme.

The authors explore music teaching and music pedagogy in a broad sense as a series of games – each with its own rules, players, values, and currencies. The reader is challenged to rethink the significance of music and music education in shaping, maintaining, and potentially transforming cultural and social structures.

The book can be ordered, and is openly available, on the Manchester University Press website.

The official launch will take place at Litteraturhuset on 22 January 2026.

Editors of the book are Live Weider Ellefsen, Petter Dyndahl, Anne Jordhus-Lier, and Siw Graabræk Nielsen, with chapters co-authored by Sidsel Karlsen, Ingeborg Lunde, Kari Marie Manum, Friederike Merkelbach, and Odd Skårberg, all affiliated with the University of Inland Norway and/or the Norwegian Academy of Music.