Decolonizing Music Theory: A Conversation between Gavin Lee and Chris Stover

Most people on earth live in Asia, and the four most populous countries in the world include China, India, and Indonesia, but where are these musics in music theory curricula?

In this conversation with Chris, I speak about the historical and sociocultural specificity of China where I teach, versus the duality of US settler colonization as well as global imperialism, as I publish in English and I inevitably have to interface with a US/UK audience. Decolonization means different things in different geographies and in discussing China, I mention political/settler, cultural, and epistemic colonization. US discourses of decolonization should not be universalized to other geographies. I also discuss the decolonial possibilities of Afro Asian music pedagogy that short circuits the West as a frequent reference point in global music history, and emphasize the need to create welcoming conditions for folks to embark on global music pedagogy. Rather than having to get it right 100% at the first try, start by having conversations with BIPOC people, join the relevant study groups in various societies, and trust we will see good intentions at inclusion unfold over years, as opposed to one off or perfunctory pedagogical changes. There is strength in building an alliance of distinct but related 1) decolonial (defined as the activity of colonized peoples), 2) deimperial (defined as the activity of people in imperialist milieus such as Western-dominated music departments), and 3) inclusive projects, all of which are counterhegemonic in orientation.