The Politics of Diversity in Music Education This open access book examines the political structures and processes that frame and produce understandings of diversity in and through music education. Recent surges in nationalist fundamentalist protectionist and separatist tendencies highlight the imperative for music education to extend beyond nominal policy agendas or wholly celebratory diversity discourses. Bringing together high level theorisation of the ways in which music education upholds or unsettles understandings of society and empirical analyses of the complex situations that arise when negotiating diversity in practice the chapters in this volume explore the politics of inquiry in research; examine music teachers’ navigations of the shifting political landscapes of society and state; extend conceptualisations of diversity in music education beyond familiar boundaries; and critically consider the implications of diversity for music education leadership. Diversity is thus not approached as a label applied to certain individuals or musical repertoires but as socially organized difference produced and manifest in various ways as part of everyday relations and interactions. This compelling collection serves as an invitation to ongoing reflexive inquiry; to deliberate the politics of diversity in a fast changing and pluralist world; and together work towards more informed and ethically sound understandings of how diversity in music education policy practice and research is framed and conditioned both locally and globally. While many titles have addressed issues of diversity in its many forms and while political issues are often embedded in this work the current title specifically and directly frames the book from the perspective of politics adding a unique focus and frame that makes an important contribution to the field. Addressing the politics of diversity as part of the “everyday processes by which we all exercise agency negotiate power and identity and assign meaning to difference” makes for compelling reading offering a complex set of views on a dynamic and varied range of topics. This is a must read book to all compelled to engage with the urgent work around equity and diversity. — Patrick Schmidt Professor of Music Education Western University Canada. 1 Introduction Part 1 Exploring the politics of inquiry in music education research 2 The art(s) of getting lost: Halting places for culturally responsive research methods 3 Body politics: Positioning the pregnant researcher amongst asylum seekers 4 The politics of reflexivity in music teachers intercultural dialogue 5 Doing dirty work: Listening for ignorance amongst the ruins of reflexivity in music education research Part 2 Navigating shifting political landscapes of society and state 6 Educative power and the respectful curricular inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music 7 To move surprise and thrill : Thirty years of promoting cultural diversity in Norwegian school concerts 8 The challenges of implementing diverse political directives in contemporary China: Between creativity and Confucianism 9 Where the social stigma has been overcome : Musician teachers negotiating identity and place in Nepali society Part 3 Extending the scope of diversity in music education 10 The paradox of democracy in popular music education: Intersectionalizing youth through curriculum analysis 11 Where does diversity go straight Biopolitics queer of color critique and music education 12 Cultural diversity ecodiversity and music education Part 4 Reconsidering the politics of music education leadership 13 From a different place to a third space: Rethinking international student pedagogy 14 Internationalization hegemony and diversity: In search of a new vision for the global music education community 15 The politics of intercultural collaboration in higher music education: Challenges seen from a leadership point of view.