The Communitarianism in ‘Livable City': Identity of Phayao in Music

Abstract

This article used historical techniques to study the meaning construction of music that plays a crucial role in economic and political change of Phayao over 7 decades. This research uncovered that the peaceful image of Phayao which typically follows community culture was masked with fun. It was also constructed by the vision of communitarianism which formed, moved, and improved before inserting themselves to create the meaning of a livable Phayao from the past to the present day. By the power of the state, the middle class “outsiders” were transformed to the power of the province, developing groups, elite class and middle class as the label “insiders”, respectively. The livable image of Phayao thus is the politics of the creation of meaning which is used to serve the creator. This research showed that communities in cities created from music will cause several different images in different musical genres creating new meanings to reflect problems and respond to the development of central power. However, it has been covered and is now lost in the present day and modernism. Livable Phayao in music has shown unnoticeable differences but has become a part of the community image that the middle class and state has granted.