Overview

In this book, over 40 contributors collectively tune in to how sound—and its absence—can function as a source of power that enables isolation, control and harm, as well as connection, healing and resistance. Sound and Detention explores soundscapes in places, processes and systems of confinement in order to better understand experiences of imprisonment and to imagine alternatives to the carceral state. Bringing together over 40 contributors from five continents, the book tunes in to some of the manifold effects associated with the presence and absence of sound and music in prisons and places of detention: from isolation, harm and control, to connection, healing and resistance. Scholarly texts feature alongside poetry, dialogue, memoir and experimental creative writing, as well as a diverse collection of audio productions on the book’s accompanying website. This plurality of form mediates the voices of artists, activists, thinkers and practitioners – some themselves currently or formerly incarcerated. Through deep engagement with the sonic realm and with questions of power, the contributors explore what it might mean to listen nearby – making space to hold distinct perspectives and positionalities in respectful simultaneity – while also amplifying resonances between sound, listening and broader questions of epistemic and social justice.

Full Product Details

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Table of Contents

Reviews

For those who can hear and choose to listen, attending carefully to sound shapes our understandings of the social worlds we move through or inhabit. Yet the soundscapes of places of detention are often inaccessible to those on the outside. This diverse and fascinating collection—and crucially, its accompanying webpage, where readers can also become listeners—demonstrates not just how we can and why we should listen to these soundscapes, but also how much we learn when we do so. It is highly recommended reading and listening for anyone who wants to better understand carceral places and experiences. * Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology & Social Work, University of Glasgow, UK * With a careful selection of authors and vantage points, Sound and Detention brings much needed attention to intersections of sound, silence, setting and power. Through a polyphonic voicing of music as an art form, social practice and medium for justice, the essays in this collection follow soundwaves through locations including India, Eritrea, the Scottish Highlands and with Syrian refugees in Germany. For those of us who care deeply about those on the inside, this volume helps us hear their voices and learn from their narratives. * Naomi André, Professor of Music, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA * Extraordinary for their breadth, depth, imagination, and compassionate eloquence, the essays in Sound and Detention explore every conceivable perspective on the part sound plays in the carceral experience, worldwide. It is essential reading for everyone interested in carceral studies, music studies, and sound studies, as well as for activists hoping to influence the practices and policies that shape the lives of imprisoned people. * Suzanne G. Cusick, Professor of Music, New York University, USA *

For those who can hear and choose to listen, attending carefully to sound shapes our understandings of the social worlds we move through or inhabit. Yet the soundscapes of places of detention are often inaccessible to those on the outside. This diverse and fascinating collection—and crucially, its accompanying webpage, where readers can also become listeners—demonstrates not just how we can and why we should listen to these soundscapes, but also how much we learn when we do so. It is highly recommended reading and listening for anyone who wants to better understand carceral places and experiences. * Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology & Social Work, University of Glasgow, UK *

Author Information

Lucy Cathcart Frödén is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her practice-based PhD at the University of Glasgow explored how creative collaboration can foster mutual solidarity. Her published work spans criminology, artistic research, sound studies and political science. Kate Herrity is Research Fellow in Punishment at Kings College, University of Cambridge, UK. A criminologist, her work seeks to unsettle boundaries between fields and ideas with a focus on music, sound and critical listening. Her monograph Sound, Order and Survival in Prison (2024) drew on aural ethnography in a local men’s prison. Áine Mangaoang is Associate Professor in Popular Music at the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo. Her books include Dangerous Mediations: Pop Music in a Philippine Prison Video (Bloomsbury, 2019) and Made in Ireland: Studies in Popular Music (2020).

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