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Sound and Listening in Troubled Times

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How do sound and listening shape public life in times of crisis? This collaborative seminar brings together perspectives from media history, sound studies and media and communication studies to explore the role of listening under conditions of uncertainty.

  • When: 24 September, 15:15–17:00
  • Where: Portvaktsstugan (M167) at Gamla Polikliniken

Kate Lacey (University of Sussex), visiting professor at the Sound Environment Centre at Lund University, will present her work on the trouble with listening. In times of trouble for liberal democracies, calls abound to recognise the civic virtues of listening. In such reflections on the theory and practice of political communication, listening tends to be considered in almost exclusively positive terms, aligned with values like empathy, understanding, trust, openness and ethics. Her work on listening publics, positing ‘listening out’ as a form of civic action for media audiences, certainly sits within this tradition. Rather than rehearse such arguments again, however, this paper draws on historical and critical reflections to ask why the persistent diagnosis of more or better or different listening as a solution to recurrent crises of communication should prove so intractable? Why do these critical interventions seem to fall on deaf ears? In short, what is the trouble with listening?

Marie Cronqvist (Linköping University) and Emil Stjernholm (Lund University) will present research from the ongoing project “Soundscapes of Warning”, which examines the historical role of sound in Swedish preparedness communication. Focusing on warning sirens, sonic media infrastructures and the role of public service radio, they explore how preparedness has relied on both technological systems and culturally learned practices of listening. The presentation also introduces some of the project’s exploratory outputs, including an audio paper and interactive 3D visualisations, as new ways of researching and communicating the history of sonic preparedness. 

Project webpage: https://sonicwarnings.wordpress.com

The Soundscapes of Warning application: https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/soundscape/

This seminar is organised in collaboration between the Sound Environment Centre and the Department of Communication at Lund University.

Last updated: 21 Aug 2026