Rajojen hämärtyessä

Kehollisen toimijuuden rakentuminen klassisen musiikin koulutus- ja työkulttuurissa

Abstract

When Boundaries Blur: Constructing Embodied Agency in Classical Music Education and Work Culture

In this article, I examine the practical challenges generated by the structural risk factors of classical music education, particularly in relation to the recognition of personal boundaries and the conditions under which sexual self‑determination can be exercised. I investigate how agency is produced through the relational dynamics of the space, and how power hierarchies shape the possibilities for action, recognition of bodily boundaries, and self‑determination available to different individuals. By applying the concepts (sexual citizenship, sexual project, sexual geographies) developed by sociologists Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan (2020), I explore how risk factors that expose individuals to misconduct within classical music culture can shape young musicians’ perceptions of embodiment and ­autonomy in adverse ways, and how these factors may structure and constrain the sexual self-determination of gendered bodies. The analysis draws on the findings and observations of my doctoral dissertation on sexual misconduct in Finnish classical music culture (Ramstedt 2024), as well as on other research addressing grooming, harassment, and psychological abuse in the fields of classical music and higher education (Bull 2019; Bucura 2020; Srinivasan 2021; Seesjärvi 2024; Koivisto-Kaasik 2025; Gibson 2026).