Periodic Reporting for period 1 - IEJCGRMI (Improvising Europe: Jazz, Cultural Globalisation and the Reinvention of Multiethnic Identities)
Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2024-09-30
Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project
Free improvisation, also known as creative, spontaneous, or real-time music, is celebrated for its utopian qualities and aesthetic radicalism. Musicians from diverse musical, cultural, national, and ethno-racial backgrounds come together in non-hierarchical settings, free from predefined guidelines, transcending fixed musical genres and identities. Often positioned at the fringes of “legitimate culture,” this movement has served as the “ultimate avant-garde” since the 1960s—a dynamic space for experimentation, collective risk-taking, and unrestrained creative flow. Despite its transnational essence, this artistic movement is deeply shaped by the local characteristics of urban scenes, offering a lens to explore postcolonial Europe’s sonic landscape through improvised music. The research project Improvising Europe: Jazz, Cultural Globalization and the Reinvention of Multiethnic Identities focuses on contemporary European music scenes to provide a comprehensive view of the social and artistic diversity inherent in free improvisation. Based on in-depth interviews with 37 artists from Spain, Hungary, and the UK, this study examines the movement’s utopian claims, exploring its intersections with race, colonialism, and gender. Combining cultural sociology, popular music studies, jazz studies, postcolonial studies, and ethnomusicology, the research delves into musical socialization, cultural assimilation, financial strategies, and gender inequalities within the jazz and improvised music scenes of Barcelona, Budapest, and Manchester/Birmingham. Each city’s jazz/improvised music scene is shaped by its unique historical, ethnic, and racial dynamics related to migration and diaspora activities. Through semi-structured interviews and ethnographic methods, this qualitative investigation reconstructs how these practices reflect, shape, and reinvent Europe’s cultural landscape. As a transnational and interdisciplinary project, it generates new knowledge on contemporary racialized and gendered expressions of cultural diversity and assimilation through improvised music, contributing to the fostering of intercultural dialogue.
The four main objectives of the research tackled distinct domains of improvised music as a community- and scene based cultural practice across the three research sites:
1) Objective 1 (O1): To map the relationship between musical socialization and cultural distinctions.
2) Objective 2 (O2): To analyze the diasporic (re)inventions of jazz traditions;
3) Objective 3 (O3): To explore the role of gender in symbolic and economic hierarchies;
4) Objective 4 (O4): To construct a three-dimensional model of artistic labor.
The four main objectives of the research tackled distinct domains of improvised music as a community- and scene based cultural practice across the three research sites:
1) Objective 1 (O1): To map the relationship between musical socialization and cultural distinctions.
2) Objective 2 (O2): To analyze the diasporic (re)inventions of jazz traditions;
3) Objective 3 (O3): To explore the role of gender in symbolic and economic hierarchies;
4) Objective 4 (O4): To construct a three-dimensional model of artistic labor.
Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far
The methodological approach was predominantly qualitative, combining audio-recorded semi-structured interviews lasting 60-90 minutes (occasionally extending to 120-150 minutes) with extensive ethnographic observations. These included attending two to three concerts per week in the most intense phase of the empirical research (months 3-18) and engaging in informal conversations and networking after the events, all alongside other academic duties (teaching, editing, co-directing MA theses, presenting at conferences, and guest lecturing at BA, MA, and PhD levels in Barcelona, Madrid, and New Brunswick, Rutgers University’s Department of Sociology). In addition to contextualizing the scenes, I prepared a detailed consent form in three languages (Spanish, English, Hungarian) and an interview guide during the project’s first month to assist the interview process. Throughout the fellowship, I conducted 37 in-depth interviews, totaling 59 hours, allowing for a thorough analysis of ethno-racial and gender distinctions in line with the project’s main objectives. I also carried out fieldwork at approximately 14 venues (about eight in Spain, four in Budapest, and three in the UK), conducted social media analysis of relevant websites and podcasts. These conventional methods of accessing hidden populations, including migrant artists, significantly enhanced the ethnographic investigation.
The research findings reveal a complex interplay between musical socialization, cultural distinctions, diasporic traditions, gender, and artistic labor. Musicians’ trajectories are shaped by diverse influences across “idiomatic” and “non-idiomatic” music styles, such as bebop and free improvisation, demonstrating how the jazz and avant-garde canons are continuously reshaped by factors like race/ethnicity, nationality, and gender, as well as by musical interactions among multi-ethnic musicians. Free improvisation, in particular, challenges the dominance of Western canons and hegemonic aesthetics by drawing on a global vocabulary of genres, styles, performance practices, and creative expressions. These practices critically challenge the alleged “whiteness” of free improvisation and offer a cultural critique of essentialist views of improvised music. It provides a sustained critique over the limitations of rigid binaries such as the “Afrological” and “Eurological” distinction and the West centrism of popular music and jazz studies. Generational differences are also significant, with older musicians reporting if relatively higher levels of career stability in their 30s and 40s especially compared to younger musicians active in contemporary scenes, who face greater precarity and increased pressure for geographic mobility, affecting their work-life balance. While institutional music education fosters social and economic capital, migrant musicians often rely on informal networks due to institutional, bureaucratic, and economic barriers. Aesthetic judgments vary across generational, class, gender, and ethno-racial lines, with these demographic factors influencing musicians’ positioning in debates between “purist” and “progressive” streams. Free improvisation, particularly for minority musicians, serves both as a tool for cultural expression and as a space for assimilation or symbolic exclusion. Its prestige is largely linked to its capacity of providing an antithesis to the neoliberal popular music industry and commercial musical practices. Gender plays a major role in both the symbolic and economic hierarchy of the improvised music scene, with female musicians often facing exclusion and tokenism in their struggle for recognition as artists and not (necessarily) as “female” artists. The research also highlights the increasing precariousness of artistic labor, with musicians navigating economic instability and a hierarchy of gigs, often prioritizing avant-garde or high-prestige concerts over commercial ones. Ethnic and aesthetic ties are crucial for managing precarity, although shared artistic values tend to outweigh factors like nationality or ethnicity in fostering collaborations.
In terms of academic impact and dissemination, my research involved a broad range of activities aimed at maximizing available resources and leveraging my diverse transnational network. A significant achievement is the forthcoming publication of The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies (Havas, Johnson, Horn 2024), a comprehensive global overview of diasporic jazz practices. This 45-chapter volume written by 50 authors (which includes my original chapter and a Preface where I serve as the lead author) addresses issues such as gender, race, cultural industries, technology, geopolitics, activism, and theoretical frameworks. Two additional publications, both currently in-progress, have already been presented at conferences and are in further development. Additionally, a co-authored publication abstract has been accepted for Slavic Review’s special issue on “Blackness.” I was also invited to co-edit Volume 14 of the prestigious Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World (Shepherd John, David Horn and Havas Ádám). Public dissemination efforts included a podcast episode on “Musical Habitus” for the Retazos Antropológicos series, a dedicated project website, and an active social media presence across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), academia.edu and ResearchGate. I also organized workshops open to the public, most notably the International Seminar Series at CECUPS-University of Barcelona, Department of sociology. The closing event of the project, titled “Improvising Europe,” was held in collaboration with the prestigious Museo de la Música and the LEM improvisation festival. This event underscored my commitment to merging academic, aesthetic, and social concerns. The concert, featuring musicians from Spain, the UK, and Hungary, was preceded by an opening speech and a panel discussion aimed at engaging a wider audience. The support from LEM and the Museo de la Música highlights the relevance of my project and lends further legitimacy to its primary objectives.
Objectives
Objective 1 (O1): To map the relationship between jazz musical socialization and cultural distinctions:
Each interview included questions about musical socialization and cultural distinctions stemming from specific learning and artistic trajectories.
O1.RQ1: What are the key features (musical influences, music-listening habits etc.) of jazz musicians’ social trajectories who engage in different styles that fall under the umbrella jazz (e.g. bebop, free jazz, Afro-Latin, crossover)?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 59 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question.
Findings: Key findings included insights about differences and similarities regarding the relationship between musical socialization patterns and ethno-racial background, nationality and gender. It testified to the “elasticity” of the canon, and how it is being reshaped and reinvented according to different positionalities. This aspect provides key insights into the cultural/musical construction of postcolonial Europe through improvised musical practices of musicians who constantly reinterpret the “Western” canon.
O1.RQ2: How does belonging to ethnic minorities relate to the expression of otherness through jazz?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about ethno-racial distinctions.
Findings: Key findings included insights about the role of ethno-racial background in cultural practices. Most important finding in that regard is the alleged “whiteness” of free improvisation: my research has proved the internal heterogeneity of improvised music where “significant Others” such as Romani or Latin American musicians play a significant role.
O1.RQ3: Are generational differences reflected in jazz musical practices?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about generational distinctions.
Findings: Key findings included qualitative insights regarding generational differences, especially regarding how different generations interpret 1) local jazz / improvised music histories, 2) aesthetic, 3) social, and 4) political stakes. Musicians over 50 years old provided narratives about higher levels of job stability and economic safety as compared to the digital age in terms of live music activities and the “gig economy).
O1.RQ4: To what extent does specialized music education and diasporic musical socialization facilitate the creation of social and cultural capital and their conversion to economic profits?
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the role of institutions in mobility and capital conversion strategies.
Findings: The research provided insights regarding the role of institutions in generating social capital subsequently converted into economic profits. It also showed evidence regarding migrant musicians economic and administrative difficulties in securing institutional education and also regarding the higher structural role of informal networks in the working lives of migrant musicians.
Objective 2 (O2): To analyze the diasporic (re)inventions of jazz traditions;
Each interview included questions about the interpretations of jazz traditions and the role of “canonic narratives” in shaping the social and cultural meanings of artistic practices. The interviews related to O2 successfully addressed the following research questions:
O2.RQ1: Are there differences between the classificatory judgments of musicians of different generational, class, stylistic, gender, national and ethnic backgrounds?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the role of different generational, class, stylistic, gender, national and ethnic backgrounds in aesthetic judgements.
Findings: The research provided insights regarding taste judgements in music depending in various socio-demographic variables. The most important findings of the research are expected to innovate the role of ethno-racial / migratory background in cultural criticism expressed through music.
O2.RQ2: How do musicians relate themselves and other jazz musicians to divisions between ‘purist’ and ‘progressive’ streams?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the opposition between “purist” and “progressive” standpoints and the significance of this fundamental symbolic conflict in cultural activities.
Findings: The findings offer key insights about the social functions of “dogmatic” and “progressive” stances across three dimensions: 1) mainstream (bebop-oriented) jazz music and avant-garde / free jazz, 2) within jazz and 3) within avant-garde / free jazz.
O2.RQ3: To what extent does playing jazz reflect minority identities and/or serve as an instrument of cultural assimilation, exclusion and distinction within the local scenes?
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the role of minority identities in forms of assimilation, exclusion and distinction as expressed through artistic practices.
Findings: Musicians’ detailed insights contributed to have a substantial understanding of the relation between musical practices and processes of exclusion / inclusion especially regarding factors such as gender, “race” and migratory background.
3) Objective 3 (O3): To explore the role of gender in symbolic and economic hierarchies;
Each interview included questions about the interpretations of jazz traditions and the role of gender in shaping interrelated symbolic and economic hierarchies. In fact, the gender dimension alongside “race” cut across the research dimensions and was relevant in all research objectives and questions. Overall ten interviews were conducted with female artists which amounts to nearly one-third of all interviews. This is due to the scenes’ male dominance, however gender issues were addressed in interviews conducted by male artists as well. successfully addressed the following research questions:
O3.RQ1: How do musicians (male, female, non-binary) interpret the uneven distribution of instrument choices?;
Summary: Instrument choices as socially conditioned by social and gendered factors, in-depth interview therefore revealed aspects regarding instrument choices and the specific requirements of genres.
Findings: Findings in this regard contribute to interdisciplinary literature regarding instrument choices thereby providing critical insights regarding patriarchal structures within the music industry.
O3.RQ2: How does gender become a relevant factor in acquiring prestige?;
Summary: This RQ provided insight the complex relationship between prestige and gender.
Findings: Research insights showed the complexity and the ambiguity of “gender” in acquiring prestige. Specifically, the discussion on quotas, liberal identity politics and “tokenism” revealed female musicians’ struggles for being recognized as “musicians” and merely as “female” musicians. My devotion to studying gender issues in jazz was demonstrated by an invitation to chair a panel discussion on jazz and gender at the KISMIF Conference in Porto (13 July, 2024).
O3.RQ3: Is the overrepresentation of female musicians among vocalists understood as the ‘natural order’ of the jazz scenes or is it perceived as an outcome of gender inequality?
Summary: A focus on vocalists contributed to understand their specific positionalities, aesthetic stakes, and struggles for recognition.
Findings: Findings based on interviews and ethnographic observations contribute insights about gender distinctions and male dominance in music scenes regarding the shifting perspectives of the role of vocalists and the “feminization” of singers.
4Objective 4 (O4): To construct a three-dimensional model of artistic labor.
Each interview included questions about different dimensions of artistic labor. Current investigations on the economic strategies of creative workers rarely include the acquisition of symbolic profits and prestige hierarchy into their scope of analysis. To fill this gap, the proposed project established a model, which along with economic profits and forms of cooperation, incorporates the concept of prestige into the analysis. To relate the structure of earning activities of different statuses (from teaching at a prestigious music academy to playing at commercial gigs) special attention is paid to the multipositionality of musicians (the breadth and intensity of earning activities) and the importance of the secondary work they undertake. This approach allowed for comparing the different structural and contextual constraints that characterize improvised music scenes in Barcelona, Budapest and Birmingham / Manchester. The ethnographic research and interviews successfully addressed the following
research questions:
O4.RQ1: How is the geographical displacement of jazz venues linked to symbolic hierarchies, education establishments and modes of transport?;
Summary: Interviews and ethnographic observations covered the role of jazz clubs and cultural centers in shaping the symbolic economy of the scenes as well as providing economic opportunities via different strategies of programming.
Findings: The research found that (local) clubs can hardly sustain the economic needs of musicians in addition to the constant economic threat they face. This latter aspect is manifested in hardships of even closing of jazz clubs throughout the duration of the research including Budapest Jazz Club (temporarily closed and reopened due to the financial aid of Budapest’s local government), If Jazz Club in Budapest (closed in November 2024 following constant hardships), Milano Jazz Club in Barcelona (closed in 2023). Further, the research found that musicians are increasingly forced to become geographically mobile which is a source of different challenges including work-life balance.
O4.RQ2: Do musicians establish a hierarchy of earning activities and, if so, based on what criteria?;
Summary: This research question directly addressed the multipositionality of musicians and the different prestige levels of different earning activities.
Findings: The research found that despite the precarious conditions, there is a notable “elitism” characterizing avantgarde scenes manifested in the criticism and at cases despisal of “commercial” gigging, including concerts in hotels or engaging with commercial genres.
O4.RQ3: How does the structure of earning activities (artistic, applied and/or non-artistic) change over the musicians’ career trajectories?;
Summary: This research question aimed to reconstruct musicians’ earning activities.
Findings: The key finding of this research question was the dual presence of (upper) middle-class musicians and precarious musicians structurally pressured to engage with commercial or non-music related activities to establish themselves in the scenes as recognized musicians.
O4.RQ4: Through what strategies do musicians exploit ethnic ties to manage precarity?
Summary: This research question aimed to tackle how informal ties related to ethnicity is explored by minority / migrant artists.
Findings: The research provided significant insights regarding how the ethnic ties are explored and mobilized in securing concerts and tours. Yet, it also found that shared aesthetic principles are more relevant than nationality, gender and / ethnicity.
Training objectives
I have undertaken the following tasks and activities:
Training Objective 1: Advisor for the H2020 ERC Project uncharted: Understanding, Capturing and Fostering the Societal Value of Culture.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: I gave advice regarding the work packages related to Hungary, including suggesting key interviewees among other tasks (translation of interview guide).
Training Objective 2: Mentor at the University of Barcelona’s “MENTUBE” programme.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: I volunteered to serve as internal advisor to an MSCA postdoctoral application that was successful.
Training Objective 3: Teaching MA and BA level courses at the University of Barcelona, Department of Sociology.
Status: Achieved
Notes: I taught two double sessions of the MA course Arte, Cultura y Creatividad (Art, Culture and Creativity) and Estudios Culturales (Cultural Studies) in the Spring Semester of year 1 of the project. Additionally, I taught a double session of Arte, Cultura y Creatividad in Year 2 Spring Semester of the project.
Training Objective 4: Guest lecture on Gypsy music and jazz at the Ambédkár School in Miskolc, Hungary.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: The guest lecture entitled “From the coffeehouse to the Parnass” at the Ámbédkár School in Miskolc. The school "serves Northern Hungarian communities where the percentage of high school graduates is currently below 1%”.
Training Objective 5: Guest lecture at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid – “Research Methodologies for Journalism” BA course. 14 March 2023.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: The possibility to teach in Madrid in Spanish further advanced my pedagogical skills, experience and network.
Training Objective 6: Convener of an international seminar series at UB-CECUPS.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: Convener of the International Seminar Series at the Centre for Culture, Politics and Society (UB-CECUPS) at the University of Barcelona, presenters included Dra. Eguenia Zicavo (University of Buenos Aires, ARG), Prof. József Böröcz (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Ali Chaudhary (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex, UK), Sophia Branco (Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, University of Barcelona, BRA), Prof. Miklós Hadas (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, HUN).
MA thesis co-director, Matias Campa Olivares “Melodías de Cambio: La precariedad de los buskers en las calles de Nueva York y el llamado a politicas culturales transformadoras” (successful defence in May 2023)
PhD thesis director (in-progress), Ana Solarte Bolanos, “Salsa choke en Aguablanca: prácticas del cuerpo, estéticas y discursos.”
The project’s results are disseminated via various academic and non-academic platforms well after the projects. In October, November and December 2024 I gave or will guest lectures at KWI Essen (23 October), Franz Liszt University of Budapest (26 November), Kunstuniversität Graz (4 December), University of Oldenburg (10-11 December).
The research findings reveal a complex interplay between musical socialization, cultural distinctions, diasporic traditions, gender, and artistic labor. Musicians’ trajectories are shaped by diverse influences across “idiomatic” and “non-idiomatic” music styles, such as bebop and free improvisation, demonstrating how the jazz and avant-garde canons are continuously reshaped by factors like race/ethnicity, nationality, and gender, as well as by musical interactions among multi-ethnic musicians. Free improvisation, in particular, challenges the dominance of Western canons and hegemonic aesthetics by drawing on a global vocabulary of genres, styles, performance practices, and creative expressions. These practices critically challenge the alleged “whiteness” of free improvisation and offer a cultural critique of essentialist views of improvised music. It provides a sustained critique over the limitations of rigid binaries such as the “Afrological” and “Eurological” distinction and the West centrism of popular music and jazz studies. Generational differences are also significant, with older musicians reporting if relatively higher levels of career stability in their 30s and 40s especially compared to younger musicians active in contemporary scenes, who face greater precarity and increased pressure for geographic mobility, affecting their work-life balance. While institutional music education fosters social and economic capital, migrant musicians often rely on informal networks due to institutional, bureaucratic, and economic barriers. Aesthetic judgments vary across generational, class, gender, and ethno-racial lines, with these demographic factors influencing musicians’ positioning in debates between “purist” and “progressive” streams. Free improvisation, particularly for minority musicians, serves both as a tool for cultural expression and as a space for assimilation or symbolic exclusion. Its prestige is largely linked to its capacity of providing an antithesis to the neoliberal popular music industry and commercial musical practices. Gender plays a major role in both the symbolic and economic hierarchy of the improvised music scene, with female musicians often facing exclusion and tokenism in their struggle for recognition as artists and not (necessarily) as “female” artists. The research also highlights the increasing precariousness of artistic labor, with musicians navigating economic instability and a hierarchy of gigs, often prioritizing avant-garde or high-prestige concerts over commercial ones. Ethnic and aesthetic ties are crucial for managing precarity, although shared artistic values tend to outweigh factors like nationality or ethnicity in fostering collaborations.
In terms of academic impact and dissemination, my research involved a broad range of activities aimed at maximizing available resources and leveraging my diverse transnational network. A significant achievement is the forthcoming publication of The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies (Havas, Johnson, Horn 2024), a comprehensive global overview of diasporic jazz practices. This 45-chapter volume written by 50 authors (which includes my original chapter and a Preface where I serve as the lead author) addresses issues such as gender, race, cultural industries, technology, geopolitics, activism, and theoretical frameworks. Two additional publications, both currently in-progress, have already been presented at conferences and are in further development. Additionally, a co-authored publication abstract has been accepted for Slavic Review’s special issue on “Blackness.” I was also invited to co-edit Volume 14 of the prestigious Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World (Shepherd John, David Horn and Havas Ádám). Public dissemination efforts included a podcast episode on “Musical Habitus” for the Retazos Antropológicos series, a dedicated project website, and an active social media presence across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), academia.edu and ResearchGate. I also organized workshops open to the public, most notably the International Seminar Series at CECUPS-University of Barcelona, Department of sociology. The closing event of the project, titled “Improvising Europe,” was held in collaboration with the prestigious Museo de la Música and the LEM improvisation festival. This event underscored my commitment to merging academic, aesthetic, and social concerns. The concert, featuring musicians from Spain, the UK, and Hungary, was preceded by an opening speech and a panel discussion aimed at engaging a wider audience. The support from LEM and the Museo de la Música highlights the relevance of my project and lends further legitimacy to its primary objectives.
Objectives
Objective 1 (O1): To map the relationship between jazz musical socialization and cultural distinctions:
Each interview included questions about musical socialization and cultural distinctions stemming from specific learning and artistic trajectories.
O1.RQ1: What are the key features (musical influences, music-listening habits etc.) of jazz musicians’ social trajectories who engage in different styles that fall under the umbrella jazz (e.g. bebop, free jazz, Afro-Latin, crossover)?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 59 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question.
Findings: Key findings included insights about differences and similarities regarding the relationship between musical socialization patterns and ethno-racial background, nationality and gender. It testified to the “elasticity” of the canon, and how it is being reshaped and reinvented according to different positionalities. This aspect provides key insights into the cultural/musical construction of postcolonial Europe through improvised musical practices of musicians who constantly reinterpret the “Western” canon.
O1.RQ2: How does belonging to ethnic minorities relate to the expression of otherness through jazz?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about ethno-racial distinctions.
Findings: Key findings included insights about the role of ethno-racial background in cultural practices. Most important finding in that regard is the alleged “whiteness” of free improvisation: my research has proved the internal heterogeneity of improvised music where “significant Others” such as Romani or Latin American musicians play a significant role.
O1.RQ3: Are generational differences reflected in jazz musical practices?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about generational distinctions.
Findings: Key findings included qualitative insights regarding generational differences, especially regarding how different generations interpret 1) local jazz / improvised music histories, 2) aesthetic, 3) social, and 4) political stakes. Musicians over 50 years old provided narratives about higher levels of job stability and economic safety as compared to the digital age in terms of live music activities and the “gig economy).
O1.RQ4: To what extent does specialized music education and diasporic musical socialization facilitate the creation of social and cultural capital and their conversion to economic profits?
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the role of institutions in mobility and capital conversion strategies.
Findings: The research provided insights regarding the role of institutions in generating social capital subsequently converted into economic profits. It also showed evidence regarding migrant musicians economic and administrative difficulties in securing institutional education and also regarding the higher structural role of informal networks in the working lives of migrant musicians.
Objective 2 (O2): To analyze the diasporic (re)inventions of jazz traditions;
Each interview included questions about the interpretations of jazz traditions and the role of “canonic narratives” in shaping the social and cultural meanings of artistic practices. The interviews related to O2 successfully addressed the following research questions:
O2.RQ1: Are there differences between the classificatory judgments of musicians of different generational, class, stylistic, gender, national and ethnic backgrounds?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the role of different generational, class, stylistic, gender, national and ethnic backgrounds in aesthetic judgements.
Findings: The research provided insights regarding taste judgements in music depending in various socio-demographic variables. The most important findings of the research are expected to innovate the role of ethno-racial / migratory background in cultural criticism expressed through music.
O2.RQ2: How do musicians relate themselves and other jazz musicians to divisions between ‘purist’ and ‘progressive’ streams?;
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 hours of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the opposition between “purist” and “progressive” standpoints and the significance of this fundamental symbolic conflict in cultural activities.
Findings: The findings offer key insights about the social functions of “dogmatic” and “progressive” stances across three dimensions: 1) mainstream (bebop-oriented) jazz music and avant-garde / free jazz, 2) within jazz and 3) within avant-garde / free jazz.
O2.RQ3: To what extent does playing jazz reflect minority identities and/or serve as an instrument of cultural assimilation, exclusion and distinction within the local scenes?
Summary: The ethnographic observations and ca. 60 of interviews gained across the three sites were sufficient in responding the research question: interviews contained detailed narratives and biographic details about the role of minority identities in forms of assimilation, exclusion and distinction as expressed through artistic practices.
Findings: Musicians’ detailed insights contributed to have a substantial understanding of the relation between musical practices and processes of exclusion / inclusion especially regarding factors such as gender, “race” and migratory background.
3) Objective 3 (O3): To explore the role of gender in symbolic and economic hierarchies;
Each interview included questions about the interpretations of jazz traditions and the role of gender in shaping interrelated symbolic and economic hierarchies. In fact, the gender dimension alongside “race” cut across the research dimensions and was relevant in all research objectives and questions. Overall ten interviews were conducted with female artists which amounts to nearly one-third of all interviews. This is due to the scenes’ male dominance, however gender issues were addressed in interviews conducted by male artists as well. successfully addressed the following research questions:
O3.RQ1: How do musicians (male, female, non-binary) interpret the uneven distribution of instrument choices?;
Summary: Instrument choices as socially conditioned by social and gendered factors, in-depth interview therefore revealed aspects regarding instrument choices and the specific requirements of genres.
Findings: Findings in this regard contribute to interdisciplinary literature regarding instrument choices thereby providing critical insights regarding patriarchal structures within the music industry.
O3.RQ2: How does gender become a relevant factor in acquiring prestige?;
Summary: This RQ provided insight the complex relationship between prestige and gender.
Findings: Research insights showed the complexity and the ambiguity of “gender” in acquiring prestige. Specifically, the discussion on quotas, liberal identity politics and “tokenism” revealed female musicians’ struggles for being recognized as “musicians” and merely as “female” musicians. My devotion to studying gender issues in jazz was demonstrated by an invitation to chair a panel discussion on jazz and gender at the KISMIF Conference in Porto (13 July, 2024).
O3.RQ3: Is the overrepresentation of female musicians among vocalists understood as the ‘natural order’ of the jazz scenes or is it perceived as an outcome of gender inequality?
Summary: A focus on vocalists contributed to understand their specific positionalities, aesthetic stakes, and struggles for recognition.
Findings: Findings based on interviews and ethnographic observations contribute insights about gender distinctions and male dominance in music scenes regarding the shifting perspectives of the role of vocalists and the “feminization” of singers.
4Objective 4 (O4): To construct a three-dimensional model of artistic labor.
Each interview included questions about different dimensions of artistic labor. Current investigations on the economic strategies of creative workers rarely include the acquisition of symbolic profits and prestige hierarchy into their scope of analysis. To fill this gap, the proposed project established a model, which along with economic profits and forms of cooperation, incorporates the concept of prestige into the analysis. To relate the structure of earning activities of different statuses (from teaching at a prestigious music academy to playing at commercial gigs) special attention is paid to the multipositionality of musicians (the breadth and intensity of earning activities) and the importance of the secondary work they undertake. This approach allowed for comparing the different structural and contextual constraints that characterize improvised music scenes in Barcelona, Budapest and Birmingham / Manchester. The ethnographic research and interviews successfully addressed the following
research questions:
O4.RQ1: How is the geographical displacement of jazz venues linked to symbolic hierarchies, education establishments and modes of transport?;
Summary: Interviews and ethnographic observations covered the role of jazz clubs and cultural centers in shaping the symbolic economy of the scenes as well as providing economic opportunities via different strategies of programming.
Findings: The research found that (local) clubs can hardly sustain the economic needs of musicians in addition to the constant economic threat they face. This latter aspect is manifested in hardships of even closing of jazz clubs throughout the duration of the research including Budapest Jazz Club (temporarily closed and reopened due to the financial aid of Budapest’s local government), If Jazz Club in Budapest (closed in November 2024 following constant hardships), Milano Jazz Club in Barcelona (closed in 2023). Further, the research found that musicians are increasingly forced to become geographically mobile which is a source of different challenges including work-life balance.
O4.RQ2: Do musicians establish a hierarchy of earning activities and, if so, based on what criteria?;
Summary: This research question directly addressed the multipositionality of musicians and the different prestige levels of different earning activities.
Findings: The research found that despite the precarious conditions, there is a notable “elitism” characterizing avantgarde scenes manifested in the criticism and at cases despisal of “commercial” gigging, including concerts in hotels or engaging with commercial genres.
O4.RQ3: How does the structure of earning activities (artistic, applied and/or non-artistic) change over the musicians’ career trajectories?;
Summary: This research question aimed to reconstruct musicians’ earning activities.
Findings: The key finding of this research question was the dual presence of (upper) middle-class musicians and precarious musicians structurally pressured to engage with commercial or non-music related activities to establish themselves in the scenes as recognized musicians.
O4.RQ4: Through what strategies do musicians exploit ethnic ties to manage precarity?
Summary: This research question aimed to tackle how informal ties related to ethnicity is explored by minority / migrant artists.
Findings: The research provided significant insights regarding how the ethnic ties are explored and mobilized in securing concerts and tours. Yet, it also found that shared aesthetic principles are more relevant than nationality, gender and / ethnicity.
Training objectives
I have undertaken the following tasks and activities:
Training Objective 1: Advisor for the H2020 ERC Project uncharted: Understanding, Capturing and Fostering the Societal Value of Culture.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: I gave advice regarding the work packages related to Hungary, including suggesting key interviewees among other tasks (translation of interview guide).
Training Objective 2: Mentor at the University of Barcelona’s “MENTUBE” programme.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: I volunteered to serve as internal advisor to an MSCA postdoctoral application that was successful.
Training Objective 3: Teaching MA and BA level courses at the University of Barcelona, Department of Sociology.
Status: Achieved
Notes: I taught two double sessions of the MA course Arte, Cultura y Creatividad (Art, Culture and Creativity) and Estudios Culturales (Cultural Studies) in the Spring Semester of year 1 of the project. Additionally, I taught a double session of Arte, Cultura y Creatividad in Year 2 Spring Semester of the project.
Training Objective 4: Guest lecture on Gypsy music and jazz at the Ambédkár School in Miskolc, Hungary.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: The guest lecture entitled “From the coffeehouse to the Parnass” at the Ámbédkár School in Miskolc. The school "serves Northern Hungarian communities where the percentage of high school graduates is currently below 1%”.
Training Objective 5: Guest lecture at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid – “Research Methodologies for Journalism” BA course. 14 March 2023.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: The possibility to teach in Madrid in Spanish further advanced my pedagogical skills, experience and network.
Training Objective 6: Convener of an international seminar series at UB-CECUPS.
Status: Achieved.
Notes: Convener of the International Seminar Series at the Centre for Culture, Politics and Society (UB-CECUPS) at the University of Barcelona, presenters included Dra. Eguenia Zicavo (University of Buenos Aires, ARG), Prof. József Böröcz (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Ali Chaudhary (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex, UK), Sophia Branco (Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, University of Barcelona, BRA), Prof. Miklós Hadas (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, HUN).
MA thesis co-director, Matias Campa Olivares “Melodías de Cambio: La precariedad de los buskers en las calles de Nueva York y el llamado a politicas culturales transformadoras” (successful defence in May 2023)
PhD thesis director (in-progress), Ana Solarte Bolanos, “Salsa choke en Aguablanca: prácticas del cuerpo, estéticas y discursos.”
The project’s results are disseminated via various academic and non-academic platforms well after the projects. In October, November and December 2024 I gave or will guest lectures at KWI Essen (23 October), Franz Liszt University of Budapest (26 November), Kunstuniversität Graz (4 December), University of Oldenburg (10-11 December).
Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)
I had published as lead editor: 1) The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies (with Bruce Johnson and David Horn), 2) an original chapter in the volume entitled “Diasporic Jazz and Identity Politics: Reflections from the European Periphery”, and 3) the preface for the book, where I serve as the first author. Additionally, I was 4) commissioned to co-edit Vol. 14 of the prestigious Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, and 5) our proposal to write an article for Slavic Review’s special issue on “Blackness,” published by Cambridge University Press (Q1 journal), was accepted by the editors. This article is co-authored with senior scholar Prof. József Böröcz (Rutgers University, H-index: 31).
* Although this output may be considered as substantial, I consider the research concluded when publishing the article “Homage to Dionysius: Sensual Cosmopolitanism and Transdiasporic Fusions in Europe’s Free Improvisation Scenes” (to be submitted to Cultural Sociology). See below the works already published throughout the fellowship and works that are under preparation or accepted by editors:
Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn, eds. (2024): The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge. p. 490.
Havas, Ádám (2024): “Diasporic Jazz and Identity Politics: Reflections from the European Periphery.” In Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn, eds., The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge, 59-71.
Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn (2024). “Preface to The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies”. In Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn, eds., The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge, xiii-xv.
Havas, Ádám (forthcoming): “Diasporischer Jazz und Identitätspolitik: Reflexionen aus der europäischen Peripherie.” In. Dunkel, Mario and Magdalena Fürnkranz (eds.): Handbuch Jazz. Stuttgart/Kassel: Metzler/Bärenreiter.
John Shepherd, David Horn and Ádám Havas, eds. (forthcoming): Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 14. London: Bloomsbury.
Havas, Ádám (forthcoming). “Jazz in Hungary”. In: Shepherd, John, David Horn and Adam Havas, eds., Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 14. London: Bloomsbury.
Havas, Ádám (manuscript under preparation). “Homage to Dionysios: Sensual Cosmopolitanism and Transdiasporic Fusions in Europe’s Free Improvisation Scenes.” To be submitted to Cultural Sociology.
Havas, Ádám and Böröcz, József (manuscript under preparation). “Not suitable for White Man”: Racing to “Eurowhiteness” and the paradox of “dirty whiteness”. Slavic Review, Special Issue on Blackness in SEEES. [Accepted by editors]
Outcome and results:
I attended the following conferences throughout the fellowship (see below).
2024
“Rituals of Resistance, Trans-Generic Utopias, and the Limits of Free-(idi)oms: The Cultural Politics of Barcelona’s Free Improvisation Scene”, 16th ESA Conference – Tension, Trust, Transitions, Porto, 27-30 August 2024 (forthcoming)
“Rituals of Resistance, Trans-Generic Utopias, and the Limits of Free-(idi)oms: The Cultural Politics of Barcelona’s Free Improvisation Scene”, 7th KISMIF International Conference: DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation, University of Porto, 9-13 July 2024. (forthcoming)
“Rituales de resistencia, utopías transgenéricas y cambio social: La política cultural de la escena de improvisación libre de Barcelona” XV Congreso Español de Sociología, Sevilla, 26-29 June 2024. (fortcoming)
“Meanings of Permanence and Change in Romani Musicians’ Jazz Habitus”, University of Newcastle, Australia & CEU Romani Studies Program International Conference: Agency and Perception: The Roma in East Central Europe, 18-19 April 2024
2023
“The Rise of Heteronomous Academia on the EU’s borderlands” (with Ágoston Fáber), (Re)Thinking the University from, in, and beyond (Post-)Socialist Europe – University of Vienna. 27-29 September 2023.
“Rituals of Resistance, ‘Culture Wars,’ and Social Activism: The Cultural Politics of Barcelona’s and Budapest’s Scenes of Improvised Music”, New perspectives and interventions: The state of play in cultural sociology and sociology of the arts, European Sociological Association, RN07 & RN02 Symposium in collaboration with Department of Sociology and Department of Cultural Studies at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridsky and the Bulgarian Sociological Association. 31-02 Aug-Sept, 2023
VIII CONGRESO ULEPICC-ESPAÑA, Madrid, – Panel: “Discursos de paz y justicia en las músicas populares” (Israel V. Márquez, Josep Pedro, David Álvarez, Joaquín Cardoso y Adam Havas). Facultad de Ciencias de la Información Universidad Complutense de Madrid. 10 March 2023.
2022 Documenting Jazz Conference “Diversity in Jazz,” Swansea 2022. “’Diversity’” and/or “’Difference’”? – Jazz, Diaspora and Identity Politics through East European Perspectives.” 10 November 2022. (online)
Deviation: Instead of the 5 conferences promised I attended 8 conferences excluding the guest lectures.
I organized an international seminar series (UB-CECUPS)
I organized the International Research Seminar Series at the Centre for Culture, Politics and Society (UB-CECUPS) at the University of Barcelona, presenters included Dra. Eguenia Zicavo (University of Buenos Aires, ARG), Prof. József Böröcz (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Ali Chaudhary (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex, UK), Sophia Branco (Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, University of Barcelona, BRA), Prof. Miklos Hadas (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, HUN). Note: This role highlights my leadership in fostering interdisciplinary academic dialogue and exchange, bringing together scholars from various backgrounds and enhancing the research culture at the University of Barcelona.
Deviation: Instead of 4 workshops I organized 5 workshops as part of the International CECUPS seminar series excluding the final event.
I made short academic visits and and gave several guest lectures:
I made short academic visits including guest lectures and teaching activities at the following universities (see below). Note that I connected the field research in the UK with guest lectures in Bristol and Manchester to maximize the project’s resources.
2023 Guest lecture on the forthcoming Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies at Birmingham City University, Department of Music (BCMCR Jazz Research Cluster. 30 November 2023.
Guest lecture “Swinging East European Difference”, University of Bristol, Department of Music. 13 November 2023.
Guest lecture “Swinging East European Difference”, University of Manchester, Department of Music. 16 November 2023.
Department Seminar: “Swinging Cultural Difference in East-Central Europe: Political Transformations through the Lenses of Jazz and Improvised Music”, Central European University, Department of Political Science. 4 October 2023.
“Rituales de resistencia, utopías transgenéricas y los límites de la improvisación libre: La política cultural de la escena de improvisación libre de Barcelona”, Sala fontseré del Institut d'Estudis Catalans – Grup de Treball d'Etnomusicologia. 26 May 2023.
Presentation at Facultad de Filología, at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, “Jazz en Hungría: Historia Social y la Escena Contemporánea”. 19 April 2023.
“Swinging Cultural Differences in Eastern Europe: The Genesis and Structure of the Hungarian Jazz Diaspora.” The New School for Social Research, Department of Sociology. Tuesday April 11, 2023.
“Swinging” Cultural Differences in Eastern Europe: The Genesis and Structure of the Hungarian Jazz Diaspora." Davison Hall Seminar Room, Rutgers University, Department of Sociology. Wednesday April 5, 2023.
Guest lecture on Pierre Bourdieu’s constructivist structuralism at Rutgers University, Department of Sociology, “Sociology of Recent Soci(ologic)al Theory” PhD course. April 4, 2023.
Guest lecture at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid – “Research Methodologies for Journalism” BA course. 14 March 2023.
* Although this output may be considered as substantial, I consider the research concluded when publishing the article “Homage to Dionysius: Sensual Cosmopolitanism and Transdiasporic Fusions in Europe’s Free Improvisation Scenes” (to be submitted to Cultural Sociology). See below the works already published throughout the fellowship and works that are under preparation or accepted by editors:
Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn, eds. (2024): The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge. p. 490.
Havas, Ádám (2024): “Diasporic Jazz and Identity Politics: Reflections from the European Periphery.” In Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn, eds., The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge, 59-71.
Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn (2024). “Preface to The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies”. In Havas, Ádám, Bruce Johnson and David Horn, eds., The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge, xiii-xv.
Havas, Ádám (forthcoming): “Diasporischer Jazz und Identitätspolitik: Reflexionen aus der europäischen Peripherie.” In. Dunkel, Mario and Magdalena Fürnkranz (eds.): Handbuch Jazz. Stuttgart/Kassel: Metzler/Bärenreiter.
John Shepherd, David Horn and Ádám Havas, eds. (forthcoming): Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 14. London: Bloomsbury.
Havas, Ádám (forthcoming). “Jazz in Hungary”. In: Shepherd, John, David Horn and Adam Havas, eds., Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 14. London: Bloomsbury.
Havas, Ádám (manuscript under preparation). “Homage to Dionysios: Sensual Cosmopolitanism and Transdiasporic Fusions in Europe’s Free Improvisation Scenes.” To be submitted to Cultural Sociology.
Havas, Ádám and Böröcz, József (manuscript under preparation). “Not suitable for White Man”: Racing to “Eurowhiteness” and the paradox of “dirty whiteness”. Slavic Review, Special Issue on Blackness in SEEES. [Accepted by editors]
Outcome and results:
I attended the following conferences throughout the fellowship (see below).
2024
“Rituals of Resistance, Trans-Generic Utopias, and the Limits of Free-(idi)oms: The Cultural Politics of Barcelona’s Free Improvisation Scene”, 16th ESA Conference – Tension, Trust, Transitions, Porto, 27-30 August 2024 (forthcoming)
“Rituals of Resistance, Trans-Generic Utopias, and the Limits of Free-(idi)oms: The Cultural Politics of Barcelona’s Free Improvisation Scene”, 7th KISMIF International Conference: DIY Cultures, Democracy and Creative Participation, University of Porto, 9-13 July 2024. (forthcoming)
“Rituales de resistencia, utopías transgenéricas y cambio social: La política cultural de la escena de improvisación libre de Barcelona” XV Congreso Español de Sociología, Sevilla, 26-29 June 2024. (fortcoming)
“Meanings of Permanence and Change in Romani Musicians’ Jazz Habitus”, University of Newcastle, Australia & CEU Romani Studies Program International Conference: Agency and Perception: The Roma in East Central Europe, 18-19 April 2024
2023
“The Rise of Heteronomous Academia on the EU’s borderlands” (with Ágoston Fáber), (Re)Thinking the University from, in, and beyond (Post-)Socialist Europe – University of Vienna. 27-29 September 2023.
“Rituals of Resistance, ‘Culture Wars,’ and Social Activism: The Cultural Politics of Barcelona’s and Budapest’s Scenes of Improvised Music”, New perspectives and interventions: The state of play in cultural sociology and sociology of the arts, European Sociological Association, RN07 & RN02 Symposium in collaboration with Department of Sociology and Department of Cultural Studies at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridsky and the Bulgarian Sociological Association. 31-02 Aug-Sept, 2023
VIII CONGRESO ULEPICC-ESPAÑA, Madrid, – Panel: “Discursos de paz y justicia en las músicas populares” (Israel V. Márquez, Josep Pedro, David Álvarez, Joaquín Cardoso y Adam Havas). Facultad de Ciencias de la Información Universidad Complutense de Madrid. 10 March 2023.
2022 Documenting Jazz Conference “Diversity in Jazz,” Swansea 2022. “’Diversity’” and/or “’Difference’”? – Jazz, Diaspora and Identity Politics through East European Perspectives.” 10 November 2022. (online)
Deviation: Instead of the 5 conferences promised I attended 8 conferences excluding the guest lectures.
I organized an international seminar series (UB-CECUPS)
I organized the International Research Seminar Series at the Centre for Culture, Politics and Society (UB-CECUPS) at the University of Barcelona, presenters included Dra. Eguenia Zicavo (University of Buenos Aires, ARG), Prof. József Böröcz (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Ali Chaudhary (Rutgers University, US), Prof. Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex, UK), Sophia Branco (Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, University of Barcelona, BRA), Prof. Miklos Hadas (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, HUN). Note: This role highlights my leadership in fostering interdisciplinary academic dialogue and exchange, bringing together scholars from various backgrounds and enhancing the research culture at the University of Barcelona.
Deviation: Instead of 4 workshops I organized 5 workshops as part of the International CECUPS seminar series excluding the final event.
I made short academic visits and and gave several guest lectures:
I made short academic visits including guest lectures and teaching activities at the following universities (see below). Note that I connected the field research in the UK with guest lectures in Bristol and Manchester to maximize the project’s resources.
2023 Guest lecture on the forthcoming Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies at Birmingham City University, Department of Music (BCMCR Jazz Research Cluster. 30 November 2023.
Guest lecture “Swinging East European Difference”, University of Bristol, Department of Music. 13 November 2023.
Guest lecture “Swinging East European Difference”, University of Manchester, Department of Music. 16 November 2023.
Department Seminar: “Swinging Cultural Difference in East-Central Europe: Political Transformations through the Lenses of Jazz and Improvised Music”, Central European University, Department of Political Science. 4 October 2023.
“Rituales de resistencia, utopías transgenéricas y los límites de la improvisación libre: La política cultural de la escena de improvisación libre de Barcelona”, Sala fontseré del Institut d'Estudis Catalans – Grup de Treball d'Etnomusicologia. 26 May 2023.
Presentation at Facultad de Filología, at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, “Jazz en Hungría: Historia Social y la Escena Contemporánea”. 19 April 2023.
“Swinging Cultural Differences in Eastern Europe: The Genesis and Structure of the Hungarian Jazz Diaspora.” The New School for Social Research, Department of Sociology. Tuesday April 11, 2023.
“Swinging” Cultural Differences in Eastern Europe: The Genesis and Structure of the Hungarian Jazz Diaspora." Davison Hall Seminar Room, Rutgers University, Department of Sociology. Wednesday April 5, 2023.
Guest lecture on Pierre Bourdieu’s constructivist structuralism at Rutgers University, Department of Sociology, “Sociology of Recent Soci(ologic)al Theory” PhD course. April 4, 2023.
Guest lecture at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid – “Research Methodologies for Journalism” BA course. 14 March 2023.