On Listening

Book excerpt: On Listening is a unique collection of forty multi-disciplinary perspectives drawn from anthropology, bioacoustics, geography, literature, community activism, sociology, religion, philosophy, art history, conflict mediation and the sonic arts including music, ethnomusicology and field recording. These specially commissioned contributions explore the many ways in which skilled listening can mediate new relationships with our physical environment and the people and other species that we share it with. From the Introduction: Listening has become an increasingly popular subject of study. It features in conferences, in academic journals, in doctoral research projects. However, reflexive listening is an applied practice that exceeds the boundaries of academic institutions to take its place in a number of everyday settings. This book aims to connect the scholarly and the experiential and extend the contemporary discourse on listening.