Description:
This volume charts a new frontier of applied ethnomusicology by highlighting the role of music in both inciting and resolving a spectrum of social and political conflicts in the contemporary world. Examining the materials and practices of music-making, contributors detail how music and performance are deployed to critique power structures and to nurture cultural awareness among communities in conflict. The essays here range from musicological studies to ethnographic analyses to accounts of practical interventions that could serve as models for conflict resolution. "Music and Conflict" reveals how musical texts are manipulated by opposing groups to promote conflict and how music can be utilized to advance conflict resolution. Speaking to the cultural implications of globalization and pointing out how music can promote a shared musical heritage across borders, the essays discuss the music of Albania, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, North and South Korea, Uganda, the United States, and the former Yugoslavia. The volume also includes dozens of illustrations, including photos, maps, and musical scores. Contributors are Samuel Araujo, William Beeman, Stephen Blum, Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, David Cooper, Keith Howard, Inna Naroditskaya, John Morgan O'Connell, Svanibor Pettan, Anne K. Rasmussen, Adelaida Reyes, Anthony Seeger, Jane C. Sugarman, and Britta Sweers.
Brief description: Shubha Chaudhuri is Director of the Archives & Research Centre for Ethnomusicology of the American Institute of Indian Studies. Anthony Seeger is Professor of Ethnomusicology at University of California at Los Angeles.
Review Quotes: "Until now, the intersection of music and conflict has been under-documented and under-theorized in ethnomusicology. "Music and Conflict" bravely addresses the 'darker side' of musical behavior, documenting how music sometimes works to incite violence and how it may also be used to rebuild communities torn apart by misunderstandings, conflict, and even war."--Nancy Guy, author of "Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan"