«Una voce che grida». Il cristianesimo del dissenso e la discografia antagonista

Until the early 1960s, politically engaged Catholic record production was limited to a few propaganda singles issued by the Christian Democratic Party. With the rise of Christian dissent – inspired by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and youth protest movements – popular music became a form of evangelical expression. Influenced by the new post-conciliar liturgy and by a desire to link faith with social struggles, several youth bands recorded songs on justice, peace, and solidarity, often addressing contemporary issues such as the Vietnam War, poverty, and racism. Catholic labels began releasing albums that blended liturgy and pop with the sounds of the late 1960s. This cultural turmoil also reached Italian Protestantism: in the early 1970s, the choir of the Agape Evangelical Community recorded four albums combining political songs and hymns. The paper examines the specificity of Christian dissent within the broader context of Italy’s «antagonist discography» in the 1960s and 1970s.