Playing for Change: Musicians in the Service of Social Movements

by Rosenthal,Rob

• ISBN13: 9781594517891
• ISBN10: 1594517894
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2012-04-30
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

Although music is known to be part of the great social movements that have rocked the world, its specific contribution to political struggle has rarely been closely analyzed. Is it truly the lifeblood of movements, as some have declared, or merely the entertainment between the speeches? Drawing on interviews, case studies, and musical and lyrical analysis, Rosenthal and Flacks offer a brilliant analysis and a wide-ranging look at the use of music in movements, in the U.S. and elsewhere, over the past hundred years. From their interviews, the voices of Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Tom Morello, Holly Near, and many others enliven this highly readable book.

Author Biography

Rob Rosenthal is the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University. He has written widely on housing and homelessness, including Homeless in Paradise (1994), and on the use of music in social movements. He has played in bands for more than forty years, including The Fuse, which recorded his rock opera Seattle 1919 in 1986. Richard Flacks is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at University of California-Santa Barbara. His work focuses on roots and strategies of social movements and the American left (Making History: The American Left and the American Mind [1988]), the social psychology of political activism (Beyond the Barricades [1989]), and cultural and social movements. He has produced a weekly radio program on music and politics since 1982.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vi
An Introduction to the Music-Movement Link	p. 1
You Can't Scare Me, I'm Sticking to the Union	p. 3
The Meanings of Music	p. 37
Aretha Franklin Sings to Charlie Manson	p. 39
Context	p. 67
The Audience and Reception	p. 91
The Meanings of Music: Some Reconsiderations and Implications	p. 103
The Functions of Musicking for Social Movements	p. 121
Serving the Committed	p. 123
Education	p. 143
Conversion and Recruitment	p. 157
Mobilization	p. 173
How Musicking Harms Movements	p. 181
What Makes a Difference?	p. 197
What Is to Be Sung (or Played)?	p. 211
Notes	p. 257
References	p. 291
Index	p. 311
About the Authors	p. 323
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