What is Suoni?

ACTIVIST MUSIC RESEARCH AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Suoni is a non-profit independent research association founded in 2017 for the purpose of advancing knowledge about and actions for social and environmental justice within the field of music and in music studies. To carry out this purpose we provide a network for scholars interested in activist music scholarship, organize conferences and other events, publish a webzine (Toiminta Soi) and a scholarly publication series (Acta Musicologica Militantia), offer consultation services, and collaborate with different actors in society. To fund our activities we apply for grants, sell publications and expert services, collect membership fees, and use other means enabled by the Associations Act in Finland.

Suoni is founded in a social, political and epistemological climate where the role of music scholarship at universities is heavily debated, frequently misunderstood and often trivialized. Still today, the societal relevance of music studies is either ignored and reduced to the simplified argument of “art for art’s sake”, which obscures the relationship between art and society, or its relevance is measured in purely economic terms, which disregards the social and political relevance music has in society. Suoni is committed to a research tradition that 1) understands music as an integral part of the fabric of society, not as a separate, detached, merely aesthetic practice, and 2) acknowledges that scholarship not only reflects a reality, it creates and reproduces (in)equity also within its own structures. 

Suoni embraces music as a tool for social change. In Finnish, “suoni” means vein, vessel, or stratum, which symbolizes both how music flows through the body of society, and how knowledge about music participates in processes of social stratification. In Italian, “suoni” — the plural form of “suono” — means sounds, which signifies the plurality of perspectives on and epistemologies about music.

We operate mainly within the geographical area known as Finland and more broadly within the Nordic countries but are open for collaborations outside this region and do not principally abide by nation state borders as the main organizing principles of scholarship. Anybody practising activist music research or interested in pursuing it can apply for membership in Suoni. If you are interested in joining the association, send a freely formulated application where you briefly (1–2 pages) describe your own interest in activist music research and present a research plan that resonates with this interest. All applications should be directed to: suoni@suoni.fi.

Rules, Annual reports and action plans (in finnish)

Suoni yhdistyksen säännöt
Suoni toimintasuunnitelma 2023
Suoni toimintakertomus 2022
Suoni toimintasuunnitelma 2022
Suoni toimintakertomus 2021
Suoni toimintasuunnitelma 2021
Suoni toimintakertomus 2020
Suoni toimintasuunnitelma 2020
Suoni toimintakertomus 2019
Suoni toimintakertomus 2018