"We Travel the Spaceways": Article in Urban Geography

Recent geographical studies of music (e.g., Anderson, 2002; Wood et al.,
2007) suggest their potential to contribute to critical utopian thinking. This
study offers a preliminary examination of musical utopianism, focusing in
particular on its contribution to several questions provoked by the emerging
dialogue between urban spatial theory and artistic cultural practice (Pinder,
2008). Drawing insights from philosophy, musicology, sociology, geography, and
urban studies, this theoretical investigation centers on how music creates
imagined spaces and whether these spaces might be considered utopian. Following
a discussion of black music's distinctive engagement with utopia and the city,
the Chicago-based work of the composer and bandleader Sun Ra is examined as a
complex, experimental exploration of musical utopia in a post-utopian
age.