Troubling Binaries, Imagining Futurities: Toward Nonbinary Thinking in Music Education in Polarized Times

We currently exist in a context that compels people to “take sides” in a wide range of scenarios. These circumstances both create and compel emotional responses that enforce these “sides” and create binary logics that may inscribe oppressive structures. Inspired by women of color (WoC) feminisms and their potential for troubling binary thinking, we explore structural feminisms theorized by BIPOC women scholars and consider what this multifaceted theory might offer music educators when unsettling binaries. Employing WoC structural feminisms not only disrupts current extant binary structures but also provides an opportunity for reflexivity about taken-for-granted practices and a way to imagine other possibilities. Ultimately, we identify binaries prevalent in music education, problematize them, and theorize a nonbinary approach to music education. We believe that challenging how these binaries function in classroom spaces may support music educators enacting critical and abolitionist pedagogies in times of global uncertainty.