The ethics of care in community music

A common theme in the articles published in IJCM issue 16:3 is that of the ethics of care. Regardless of context, from retirement care homes to prisons, community music, as it originates in the impulse of 'intervention', is premised on care. Although individual instances of community music activity may be governed by rules and policies of a sponsoring organization, community music, as a field held together by its commitment to shared ideals, must grapple with the ethics of care on a voluntary basis. The articles by Clorinda Panebianco and Melani Fouche, Debra Joubert, Tarina Wilkinson and Liesl van der Merwe, Deanna Yerichuk and Cynthia Kinnunen, Iris Kennedy and Margaret S. Barrett, and Edward D. Messerschmidt all help to advance our understandings of care in community music. The issue concludes with two book reviews: Laura Risk reviews Josephine Miller's (2022) Community-based Traditional Music in Scotland: A Pedagogy of Participation; Lee Willingham reviews Music and Social Inclusion: International Research and Practice in Complex Settings (2023), edited by Oscar Odena.