Titon’s Sustainabiltiy

Sustainability is a term that was a bit difficult for me to get my head around. I know from the blog and a definition I looked up, that it is the endurance of certain entities or processes. ( I was thinking of it more on an individual scale; in terms of making a living, which is connected, but it isn’t the end all of sustainability) I feel like one of the things about sustainability that remained consistent throughout the blog was the emphasis on keeping music (and other things that should be sustained) true to itself and its core.  I also think that he placed an emphasis on deemphasizing the importance of money or goods in relation to sustainability, which in many cases causes entities or processes to change what they were really made for. This idea was characterized in many examples like sustainable development and the notion that things don’t have to grow in order to remain afloat or functional. This was also emphasized when he mentioned "Why [the term] sustainable growth must be abandoned?” He specifically says that it should be abandoned so that people don’t confuse what is meant and essentially justify their continued spending or ecologically destructive patterns. He also mentioned anthropological economics which goes against neoclassical economics in saying that humans aren’t just  fueled by greed and individual desire, they are instead an “actor embedded in social and cultural thought of his society” (“Anthropological economics, Heritage, and musical sustainability”) people are fueled by the things their environments deem important. He continually mentioned caring about things and finding value in them for reasons outside of monetary or self-benefit. Doing things like actively participating in a music culture creates favorable attitudes for true sustainability.

One thing that I noticed changed in the way Titon was thinking about Sustainability is the way that he feels it should be approached. I noticed this in “Sustainability Unbound 2” when he mentions that he had been thinking about political action and sustainability in terms of cultural policy; which involves things like cultural partnership (another theme seen throughout the blog) and working directly with a community. He then says that Melissa Lane opened his eyes to the idea that traditional political action like voting could be used in partnership with sustainability. He realized that no cultural policy is possible without public approval and advocacy. 

Titon's Sustainable Music Blog: http://sustainablemusic.blogspot.com/search/label/sustainability