The Organic Globalizer: The Political Development of Hip-Hop and the Prospects for Global Transformation

Abstract

This article argues that hip-hop is an “organic globalizer.” No matter its pervasiveness or its reach around the world, hip-hop ultimately remains a grassroots phenomenon that is born of the community from which it permeates. The authors contend that the political development of hip-hop in the United States holds important lessons for global political and social transformation. They identify three stages in its development: (1) the cultural awareness and emergence stage marked by the identification and recognition of voices of marginalized communities through music and art; (2) the social creation and institutionalization stage, marked by the development of independent alternative institutions and non-profit organizations in civil society geared toward social and economic justice; and (3) the political activism and participation stage, which hip-hop has entered in the United States. It is marked by demands made on the state by group actors, and the recognition of hip-hop's ability to affect electoral outcomes through political participation. Using this paradigm as a launching point, the article concludes by looking at a few examples of ways in which communities across the globe have used hip-hop to build positive political alternatives for historically marginalized communities.