The mobilization of tradition

Hearing Bruce Springsteen’s song brings back memories of a book I once wrote with Ron Eyerman, Music and Social Movements. We argued and tried to show that the interaction of music and social movements in the 20th century, in the 1960s in particular, represented a mobilization of cultural traditions that affected both politics and music and contributed to what we termed cultural transformations. I used to talk about it at academic conferences by asking the audience to stand up and sing “We Shall Overcome” with me to help bring the points all back home, so to speak. Let’s just hope that Springsteen’s song can inspire other music-makers to join him in doing something useful with their talents and mobilize their own musical traditions for a good cause. Who knows: if enough of them start writing and singing meaningful songs at their concerts it might actually help us overcome the horrors that have been brought upon us. Anyway, here’s a link to a preview of our book. And then sing along with Joan.

Click to access preview-9781139382564_A23867428.pdf