Activist Musicianship, Sound, the ‘Other Campaign’ and the Limits of Public Space in Mexico City

This article explores the interplay between different understandings of music-making in political–cultural events held by pro-Zapatista, left-wing ‘Other Campaign’ activist groups in public spaces across Mexico City. The article argues that, while these groups aimed to use music at such events to disseminate political messages and narratives to varied publics, their use of music as a sonic force was also geared towards the effective occupation of public parks and squares, claiming in practice what Henri Lefebvre characterises as the right to urban space. Nonetheless, in the course of such activity, contradictions emerged between sonic and textual conceptualisations of these musical activities which complicated notions of rights that these activist groups often invoked.