Dr Wanda Canton (pronounced Van-da) is interested in abolitionist politics, political violence (by individuals, state and non-state actors) and the socio-political significance of music and sound.

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She is a lecturer and has taught criminology and sociology since 2022. Her doctorate began as a project exploring the criminalisation of rap music, with an interest in defending UK Drill from social and political demonisation, surveillance and policing. She found complexities to the situating of 'the community' as an alternative to the criminal justice system, arguing that the community too can reproduces forms of policing and gatekeeping.

 

Her​​ publications have discussed the racist policing of UK Drill and the failure to recognise its artistic qualities, the ways in which rap music contributes and potentially decolonises knowledge and intellectual/political conventions, and the therapeutic practice of rap music. The latter pertained to her former work as a mental health practitioner. From 2016, Wanda worked across recovery day centres, secure psychiatric hospitals, statutory and third sector services to deliver sound, spoken word and rap music programmes for mental health and social dialogue. Her approach and facilitation style received national acclaim and organisational awards. She is particularly passionate about working with people who are incarcerated and has worked or visited a number of men's prisons (Cat A-C) and mixed gender prisoner support services. 

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In 2022 Wanda founded Sonic Rebellions, an international network of artists, academics and activists exploring the relationship between sound and social justice. The network has a book series under Routledge and has hosted bi-annual seasons of events across the UK and online. Volume 1, Sonic Rebellions: Sound and Social Justice was published in 2024 and emphasised the socio-political contributions of sonic agents and people who are not always recognised as change-makers. The second volume on War, Conflict and Remembering is due for publication in 2026 and focuses on the ways in which sound can be useful in conceptualising and surviving violence. Sonic Rebellions III, to be hosted in July 2026 will be centred on themes of policing and criminalisation.

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