"Aesthetics of Resistance" . Billy Bragg, ideology, and the longevity of song as social protest.

What can a song text and its performance tell us about society, privilege and the political sphere? Following on from Cashell’s (2012) line of argument, I contend that British singer Billy Bragg (1957-) has employed his lyrics and activism to represent the struggles of the International working class and build a counter narrative to discourses which present the capitalist worldview as innate, ‘natural’ and inevitable. Centered on a deep textual reading of Bragg’s song(s) “Ideology” / “The Clashing of Ideologies” (1986; 2006)2, the chapter is organized in five key sections. I begin by discussing the continuing importance of social protest and the use of song as a mechanism of protest. I then present a brief account of Billy Bragg – the artist and activist – to contextualize my analysis of his work. The third section of the chapter reflects on neoliberal understandings of meritocracy in order to situate “Ideology” / “The Clashing of Ideologies” (1986; 2006) as a sonic response to such understanding