Music and Conflict Transformation Harmonies and Dissonances in Geopolitics

by Urbain, Olivier

• ISBN13: 9781845115289
• ISBN10: 1845115287
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-15
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

How far can the relationship between music and politics be used to promote a more peaceful world? That is the central question which motivates this challenging new work. Combining theory from renowned academics such as Johan Galtung, Cindy Cohen and Karen Abi-Ezzi with compelling stories from musicians like Yair Dalal. This book also includes an exclusive interview with folk legend Pete Seeger. In each instance, practical and theoretical perspectives have been combined in order to explore music's role in conflict resolution. The book is divided into five sections. The first, "Frameworks", reflects in-depth on the connections between music and peace, while the second, "Music and Politics", discusses the actual impact of music on society. The third section, "Healing and Education" offers specific examples of the transformative power of music in prisons and other settings of conflict-resolution, while the fourth, "Stories from the Field", tells true stories about music's impact in the Middle East and elsewhere. Finally, "Reflections" encourages the reader to consider a personal evaluation of the work with a view to further explorations of the capacity of music to promote peace-building.

Author Biography

Olivier Urbain is research fellow at the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research in Tokyo, former professor of Modern Languages and Peace Studies at Soka University, Japan, and founder and former director of the Transcend: Art and Peace Network (T:AP), the artistic branch of Johan Galtung's TRANSCEND peace and development network. An amateur blues pianist, he specializes in the links between music and peace. Publications include several articles on this topic and about the power of the arts for peace. He is currently the co-convenor of the Commission on Art and Peace (CAP) of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and member of the IPRA council. He is the editor of Music for Conflict Transformation, a volume published by I. B. Tauris in October 2007.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	p. ix
Preface	p. xii
Foreword	p. xv
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Multimedia Material Accompanying this Volume	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Frameworks
Music and Empathy	p. 13
Music: A Universal Language?	p. 26
Music and Value in Cross-Cultural Work	p. 40
Peace, Music and the Arts: In Search of Interconnections	p. 53
Politics
Music as a Tool of Reconciliation in South Africa	p. 63
We Shall Overcome: The Roles of Music in the US Civil Rights Movement	p. 78
Music as a Discourse of Resistance: The Case of Gilad Atzmon	p. 93
Unpeaceful Music	p. 104
Healing and Education
Music Behind Bars: Testimonies of Suffering, Survival and Transformation	p. 115
Healing Cultural Violence: "Collective Vulnerability" through Guided Imagery with Music	p. 128
Music Therapy: Healing, Growth, Creating a Culture of Peace	p. 147
Managing Conflicts through Music: Educational Perspectives	p. 172
Stories from the Field
Working in the Trenches: Surviving Conflicts through Folk Music and Tales	p. 187
Art for Harmony in the Middle East: The Music of Yair Dalal	p. 201
Music and Peacemaking in Educational Contexts	p. 212
Index	p. 229
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