Anne Lappert, Bielefeld University
Review
Sonic Politics: Music and Social Movements in the Americas, edited by Olaf Kaltmeier and Wilfried Raussert, is an homage to the power of music to transform social realities and to conceptualize alternatives to existing narratives of the nation and beyond. With examples of social movements and their use of music and songs, this volume offers a collection of twelve essays that discuss concrete moments in history, arguing that music is more than just the background melody to 20th century social change, but in fact part of its active construction.