DCU researcher co-authors new book examining music as a tool for gender justice

A new book published by Emerald Publishing brings together music, feminist theory and the politics of memory to examine how song and sound have become powerful vehicles for confronting femicide and gender-based violence. Voices of Resistance is co-authored by Dr Villanueva and independent researcher Angelos Bollas.

The book draws on detailed case studies from Spain and Greece, two countries whose shared histories of patriarchy have produced strikingly different legal and cultural responses to gender violence. In Spain, a rich tradition of feminist musical activism, from the defiant songs of the post-Franco era to contemporary protest anthems, has served as an emotional counterweight to ongoing antifeminist backlash. In Greece, where femicide has yet to receive full legal recognition, music has taken on an even more urgent role, transforming public grief into political mobilisation.

Grounded in feminist theory, affect studies and sound studies, the book introduces the concept of "acoustic citizenship" — the idea that listening, mourning and singing together can constitute a form of civic and political engagement. The authors argue that music generates transnational feminist solidarity and sustains memory work that institutions and legal systems often fail to provide.

At the same time, the authors are candid about the limits of cultural activism, acknowledging the tensions between visibility and structural change, and the volatility of digital publics in sustaining long-term justice movements.

Voices of Resistance: Music, Femicide, and Gender Justice in Spain and Greece is available now from Emerald Publishing in print, online and epub editions.