Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy”
In January 2022, a series of truck convoys organized by right-wing activists converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, demanding that the federal government end all vaccine mandates and public health protocols related to COVID-19. While never a unified movement, opposition t...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/transposition, |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lenguaje: | Anglais |
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Transposition
2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| id |
openedition-oai:revues.org:transposition_9630 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
popular music petro-masculinity Freedom Convoy right-wing populism cultural extractivism Canadian studies musique populaire pétro-masculinité Convoi de la liberté populisme de droite extractivisme culturel études canadiennes |
| spellingShingle |
popular music petro-masculinity Freedom Convoy right-wing populism cultural extractivism Canadian studies musique populaire pétro-masculinité Convoi de la liberté populisme de droite extractivisme culturel études canadiennes Rogers, Allyson Franklin, Gale Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” |
| description |
In January 2022, a series of truck convoys organized by right-wing activists converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, demanding that the federal government end all vaccine mandates and public health protocols related to COVID-19. While never a unified movement, opposition to pandemic-related mandates became a rallying cry that brought together an assortment of right-wing groups. Coalescing around ill-defined notions of freedom, the self-proclaimed “Freedom Convoy” occupied ten square blocks in downtown Ottawa for nearly four weeks. The sound of trucks honking, engines revving, air horns, train horns, and amplified music put many residents under extreme duress, yet also drew people to the area. Music and sound were key characteristics of the occupation. The Convoy’s mainstage became a platform for a wide range of amateur singers, songwriters, rappers, and DJs, and supporters pointed to dance parties in the streets as evidence of the occupation’s peacefulness and popularity. The constellation of beliefs, behaviours, and attitudes that produced the Convoy’s thunderous soundscape is readily captured in Cara Daggett’s concept of petro-masculinity. Petro-masculinity articulates the historic relationship between fossil fuels and white heteropatriarchy, and describes a hypermasculine identity based in racism, misogyny and climate denial that has become prevalent in right-wing movements in North America and elsewhere. This paper examines how music was used to provide a veneer of multiculturalism and widespread support, playing into nationalist myths of Canadian liberalism and tolerance while evincing a kind of cultural extractivism that resonates with the logics of fossil fuel capitalism and settler colonialism. |
| author |
Rogers, Allyson Franklin, Gale |
| author_facet |
Rogers, Allyson Franklin, Gale |
| author_sort |
Rogers, Allyson |
| title |
Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” |
| title_short |
Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” |
| title_full |
Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” |
| title_fullStr |
Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” |
| title_sort |
petro-masculine soundscapes: music, sound, and violence at the 2022 ottawa “freedom convoy” |
| publisher |
Transposition |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/transposition |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/15b06 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/transposition/9630 |
| _version_ |
1877291854306738176 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:transposition_9630 https://doi.org/10.4000/15b06 urn:doi:10.4000/15b06 en https://journals.openedition.org/transposition/9630 2025-12-09T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/15b06 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Petro-masculine Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Violence at the 2022 Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” Transposition Éditions de l’EHESS info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2110-6134 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/transposition Rogers, Allyson Franklin, Gale popular music petro-masculinity Freedom Convoy right-wing populism cultural extractivism Canadian studies musique populaire pétro-masculinité Convoi de la liberté populisme de droite extractivisme culturel études canadiennes In January 2022, a series of truck convoys organized by right-wing activists converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, demanding that the federal government end all vaccine mandates and public health protocols related to COVID-19. While never a unified movement, opposition to pandemic-related mandates became a rallying cry that brought together an assortment of right-wing groups. Coalescing around ill-defined notions of freedom, the self-proclaimed “Freedom Convoy” occupied ten square blocks in downtown Ottawa for nearly four weeks. The sound of trucks honking, engines revving, air horns, train horns, and amplified music put many residents under extreme duress, yet also drew people to the area. Music and sound were key characteristics of the occupation. The Convoy’s mainstage became a platform for a wide range of amateur singers, songwriters, rappers, and DJs, and supporters pointed to dance parties in the streets as evidence of the occupation’s peacefulness and popularity. The constellation of beliefs, behaviours, and attitudes that produced the Convoy’s thunderous soundscape is readily captured in Cara Daggett’s concept of petro-masculinity. Petro-masculinity articulates the historic relationship between fossil fuels and white heteropatriarchy, and describes a hypermasculine identity based in racism, misogyny and climate denial that has become prevalent in right-wing movements in North America and elsewhere. This paper examines how music was used to provide a veneer of multiculturalism and widespread support, playing into nationalist myths of Canadian liberalism and tolerance while evincing a kind of cultural extractivism that resonates with the logics of fossil fuel capitalism and settler colonialism. En janvier 2022, une série de convois de camions organisés par des militants d’extrême droite ont convergé vers la Colline du Parlement à Ottawa, la capitale nationale du Canada, pour exiger que le gouvernement fédéral mette fin à toutes les obligations vaccinales et aux protocoles de santé publique liés à la COVID-19. Bien qu’il ne s’agisse jamais d’un mouvement unifié, l’opposition aux mesures liées à la pandémie est devenue un cri de ralliement qui a rassemblé divers groupes d’extrême droite. Ralliés autour de notions vagues de liberté, les membres du « Convoi de la liberté », comme ils se sont eux-mêmes baptisés, ont occupé dix pâtés de maisons du centre-ville d’Ottawa pendant près de quatre semaines. Le bruit des klaxons, des moteurs vrombissants, des cornes de brume, des sirènes de train et de la musique amplifiée a soumis de nombreux habitants à une pression extrême, mais a également attiré des gens dans le quartier. La musique et le bruit ont été des caractéristiques marquantes de cette occupation. La scène principale du Convoy est devenue une tribune pour un large éventail de chanteurs amateurs, d’auteurs-compositeurs, de rappeurs et de DJ, et les partisans ont mis en avant les fêtes dansantes dans les rues comme preuve du caractère pacifique et populaire de l’occupation. La constellation de croyances, de comportements et d’attitudes qui a produit le paysage sonore tonitruant du Convoy est facilement saisie dans le concept de « pétro-masculinité » de Cara Daggett. La pétro-masculinité exprime la relation historique entre les combustibles fossiles et l’hétéropatriarcat blanc, et décrit une identité hypermasculine fondée sur le racisme, la misogynie et le déni climatique, qui est devenue prédominante dans les mouvements de droite en Amérique du Nord et ailleurs. Cet article examine comment la musique a été utilisée pour donner une apparence de multiculturalisme et de soutien généralisé, jouant sur les mythes nationalistes du libéralisme et de la tolérance canadiens tout en révélant une forme d’extractivisme culturel qui fait écho à la logique du capitalisme des combustibles fossiles et du colonialisme de peuplement. |