Customer Reviews

Acting in Concert: Music, Community, and Political Action

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I applaud Mark Mattern for taking on such a topic as the communal and political role of music. I am a current graduate student and I get eyeballs rolling and audible sounds of disbelief and disapproval when I say that I want to study local music scenes as an alternative socializing agent; OR anything relating to music and politics for that matter. It is not a subject that lends it self to the current methodological trends within our field. That is, statistical computation and linear regression (although I seek to change that notion). Either way, this book is helpful to anyone interesting in the connection of music to politics, social identity, the creation and maintenance of movements and counter cultures. For the political scientists, this serves as a great example of the kind of research so many are afraid to conduct. As students, we are often told to go with the major schools of thought, gravitate to what gets published, the mainstream topics. I attribute this notion to the loss of relevance of our field within the last few decades. I think political science should have less boundaries like its sister disciplines (sociology) and this work by Mattern is an exemplary example of work that moves our discipline in a more applicable, interesting and relevant direction. bravo Mr. Mattern.

I am a student of Mark Mattern at Baldwin-Wallace College. This book provides some insight into an area of Political Science that does not discussed in academic literature. A must read for Political Science majors around the country.