Music and Migration: Interactional Spheres, Processes of Change, and Transcultural Entanglement in the Basel Music-Region

Abstract

Switzerland is known as in immigration country. One out of four inhabitants is a foreigner, and one out of three has a migratory background. These social dynamics are reflected throughout a public, political and academic discussion where martial expressions like “war for talents” or “Battle for Brain Power” mark a dimension as well as economical concepts of “skill shortages” and xenophobic statements of “foreign infiltration”. As long as these migrations and immigrations dynamics are deeply investigated trough social and economical sciences for the labour market and the industrial and service sector regarding innovation on the one side and discrimination on the other side. Up to know you don’t find comparable studies focussing on the hyper-mobile creative and artistic sectors. The research project “music and migration” sets up on this point and tries to examine this creative and artistic migration on the “glocal” music conservatory in the city of Basel.