A Study on Music and Conflict Transformation: Focusing on Cases Related to Music as a Nonviolent Mechanism

This study aimed to explore the role and contribution of music as a non-violent and peaceful mechanism in conflict transformation. To this end, the concept and characteristics of conflict, as well as the meaning and theory of conflict transformation, were reviewed, and the directions in which music can contribute to conflict transformation as a nonviolent mechanism, along with the ways in which music can be used to promote conflict transformation, were examined. Then, through the case of the Music Bridge program in Northern Ireland, music activities in Northern Uganda, and El Sistema in Venezuela, the specific aspects of music in the conflict transformation process were examined. In addition, the three cases were compared and analyzed comprehensively to explore the potential and directions in which music can be applied in a wide variety of ways as a non-violent mechanism for constructive and peaceful social change from the perspective of conflict transformation in the future. As a result of the study, it was found that music functioned positively to some extent at the personal, relational, and cultural levels of conflict transformation in all three cases. However, it was also found that structural levels such as institutional changes and power issues cannot be transformed through music intervention alone. This study is significant in that it examined conflict transformation through a cultural approach using music and expanded the discussion of existing conflict transformation research by highlighting music as a social mechanism that operates nonviolently in the conflict transformation process.