Stretching and cracking: becoming feminist posthumanist scholars in music education

Abstract

How and why did three PhD fellows become feminist posthumanist scholars within the field of music education research? Drawing on Karen Barad’s theorising of phenomena, not pre-existing entities, as the primary ontological unit and on Rosi Braidotti’s concept of the nomadic subject, we explore our research subjectivities as they are becoming in and through relations within the phenomenon of Western music education. Through the figuration of ‘voice’, we trace how and why our research voices stretch and crack as we go through a scholarly voice change transitioning from humanist to feminist posthumanist scholars. We tell performative stories that intra-actively take part in the ongoing re-configuring of the world, making matters such as children, care responsibilities, and ‘feminist killjoys’ become issues of music educational importance. Our aim is to offer companionship to others be(com)ing posthumanists, and to stretch the boundaries of music education research and practice.