Sound Tactics

From call-and-response chants to the noise of pots and pans, protests are often defined by their sounds. In this book, Justin Eckstein argues that this is not merely the result of catchy slogans; it is due to sound’s ability to hold those in power accountable. Sound Tactics highlights how, in a world grappling with the uncertainty of emergent digital practices, social movements utilize the rhetorical power of sound.

Eckstein uses the waveform as a metaphor for the persuasive potential of sound. Examining the case studies of the March for Our Lives protest, Howard University’s #HUResist movement, and the Casseroles protest in Montreal, Eckstein demonstrates how changes to the immediacy, intensity, and immersiveness of sound can affect the power of an argument. The collective use of sound in these case studies conveys the unity of the protesters in their demand for change and underlines the strength of their argument to those in power.

More than just the written word spoken aloud, sound has unique layers of added meaning—it can convey length of time, demand attention, and signal disapproval. Eckstein’s study unpacks those layers for scholars and students as well as activists interested in deploying sound for change.

Presents an acousmatic theory of rhetoric that uses the waveform as the primary metaphor to organize our social imaginary, illuminating the opportunities that sound provides advocates and activists to demand change.

Builds on our wider list on democratic participation.

A timely exploration of the use of sound in social movements.

Protest movements and moments examined in the book include March for Our Lives in DC, Howard University’s HUResist, and the Montreal Casserole movement, and the Canadian Trucker Freedom Convoy.

Justin Eckstein is an Associate Professor of Communication at Pacific Lutheran University. He is also the author of Cookery: Food Rhetorics and Social Production.