Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
History
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
In the mid-1950s, British politicians viewed American popular music with suspicion and anxiety; with some seeing it as a form of cultural imperialism that would corrupt British youth. In the mid-1990s, popular music had not only become a normal aspect of British culture but was trumpeted by parliamentary party leaders as a source of national pride and a powerful influence on Britain’s economy and standing on the global stage. This study seeks to understand how, over four decades, the shift from anxiety and indifference to enthusiastic support and explicit association occurred. While popular music has been a topic of scholarly interest since the 1960s, until recently studies have emphasized its anti-establishment and libertarian attitudes. This focus has led to a historiography that sees the state as mainly acting upon the behaviors and practices of the pop music industry. The current study challenges this narrative by showing how far-reaching pop music’s presence was in the halls of Westminster and 10 Downing Street. As an economic good, a cultural product, a marker of group identity, and a weapon of protest, pop music engaged parliamentary parties on numerous levels, forcing them to adapt and develop alongside the popular music industry. During the 1960s and 1970s, politicians limited their interaction with pop music, preferring to maintain an arm’s-length approach and only stepping in to promote the liberal ethos that laid at the center of the post-1945 political settlement. After this settlement collapsed in the late 1970s, however, politicians sought to create new political projects that envisioned a more interventionist relationship between the state, society, and the economy. The parliamentary parties subsequently gravitated toward pop music, turning it into an arena where they could promote the new projects while also resolving any internal conflicts that arose in the process of reinventing themselves.
Date
3-3-2025
Recommended Citation
Medeiros, Derek J., "House Music: Parliamentary Politics and Popular Music, 1960-2000" (2025). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6709.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6709
Committee Chair
Meredith Veldman