Social fabric: damage and reconstruction on the basis of a collective music program
Authors: Rodríguez-Sánchez Andrea del Pilar 
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to understand the changes in the social fabric of victims of forced displacement in Colombia as a result of these events, as well as the contributions of belonging to a collective musical program in reconstructing the social fabric of the participants. In Latin America, the metaphor of social fabric is used to represent the web of social relations that shape society. A five-year doctoral investigation sought to understand the changes in the social fabric of victims of forced displacement in Colombia resulting from these events, as well as the contributions of belonging to a collective musical program in reconstructing the social fabric of the participants. The study was undertaken using a qualitative approach and simple statistics, with which were analyzed 14 life stories and 70 sound postcards across seven families, who were victims of violence and belonged to the musical program in question. The research identified as key elements of the social fabric: networks, cohesive or divisive tangible resources, precarious or sufficient tangible resources, the experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

This research had a qualitative, ethnographic and narrative approach. It was developed through life stories with sound postcards and semi-structured interviews. The research participants were 14 people from families in the program studied and 10 teachers from the same program. The fieldwork was carried out over a period of six months in four cities in Colombia, taking four to five weeks in each city. In addition to the above, documents of the organization studied were reviewed.

Findings

This paper shows the impacts on the social fabric of the participants in terms of the negative impact on their family and social networks, as well as the emergence after forced displacement of divisive intangible resources associated with distrust of self, others and society. Collective musical spaces help to break the sense of anonymity and isolation by creating new networks through which cohesive intangible resources circulate, helping participants to regain confidence in themselves and others through temporary musical identity and peaceful identity.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of this research relate to being a case study in Colombia. Although this is a national program and the study has been carried out in four different cities in the country, it is not possible to generalize. However, it is possible that in the future it will be possible to contrast the findings with the processes developed with similar organizations working in music for social construction.

Practical implications

The results of this research have practical implications insofar as they can help to better understand the elements that make up the social fabric, the impacts of violence for families who have experienced it and the paths to recovery. Particularly for music organizations with social objectives, it can help to better understand their social impact. In that sense, it allows strategic elements of the organizations to be adjusted so that their social objectives are better met.

Social implications

The social implications are related to the responsibility of organizations that work with victims of the armed conflict to understand the impact of violence on these people, as this understanding allows them to generate appropriate strategies of care. Particularly, for artistic organizations, and in this case, musical organizations, to understand how their action can collaborate in the recovery of people.

Originality/value

Although the term social fabric is widely used in Latin American literature, there are few studies that clarify the concept and its application in concrete social situations. This research managed to define the specific elements of the concept and to approach the affectation of these elements by violence. Likewise, the research manages to show some ways for the recovery of the social fabric of the victims owing to their participation in the collective musical space.