I Will Do What I Can Do’

Peter Gabriel and the Documentation of Human Rights

Bibliographic Data

ID12930500
AuthorsMichael Drewett (0000-0001-7300-3083, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume14
Issue3
Pages1005-1020
Publication date2022-07-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Human Rights Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1757-9619 • E-ISSN: 1757-9627
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/jhuman/huac046
OpenAlexW4285734053
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

This article explores the cyclical relationship between Peter Gabriel, his music, the documentation of human rights, and human rights organization. It emphasizes the importance of the documentation of human rights issues as an influence in Peter Gabriel’s life, and how, in turn, he has reflected his concern for human rights issues within his own creative and more direct activist work. In at least one instance a song of his—‘Biko’—has ended up being a form of documentary in its own right, while in another his activism, in setting up the human rights organization WITNESS, has mirrored the sort of documentation of human rights issues which had a profound influence on him in the first place. It is argued that as activist-performer, Gabriel has adopted a grounded and progressive approach to documenting human rights issues and promoting human rights activism

Art · Documentation · Environmental ethics · Human rights · Performing arts · Political science · Sociology · Visual arts · Witness · Diverse Musicological Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Music History and Culture · Law · Philosophy

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