La musique en colère

National or revolutionary anthems, folk music of the Irish, Basque, or Kabyle, the civil rights movement in the rhythm of gospel, pacifist songs : no revolt, no social movement, seems possible to have taken place without a musical tradition.

This work analyzes the qualities that make music a powerful auxiliary of collective movements. Throughout the chapters, political leaders use musical arms, thinking of artists who embrace military issues, in the image of Béranger, Joan Baez, The Zebdas, Bob Geldof or the British groups Red Wedge or Rock Against Racism.

To finish, the author makes a full account of the diverse social uses of music, and of its capacity to oscillate between subversive protest and more or less conformist resignation.

Christophe Traïni, Doctor of Political Science, is Master of Conferences in Political Science at the IEP of Aix-en-Provence