New Book: Music and Diplomacy

Music and Diplomacy from the Early Modern Era to the Present is a book edited by Rebekah Ahrendt, Mark Ferraguto, and Damien Mahiet which delves into the topic of music diplomacy by analyzing historical and contemporary cases. It explores how music (its concepts, practices, and institutions) shape the exercise of diplomacy, the pursuit of power, and the conduct of international relations. Drawing together 16 international scholars with backgrounds in musicology, ethnomusicology, political science, cultural history, French studies, German studies, and communication, this volume interweaves historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives. Topics such as what it means for political bodies to act "in concert," the question of music's "universality," the concept of free improvisation as it relates to twenty-first century political policy, the role of orchestras and traveling musicians in promoting cultural exchange, and the use of music as an agent of globalization and transnational encounter are considered.

The essays not only cross disciplinary boundaries but also geographical and musical ones. Below is a full list of contributions:

Introduction; Damien Mahiet, Mark Ferraguto, and Rebekah Ahrendt 
PART I: REPRESENTATION
1. Concealed Music in Early Modern Diplomatic Ceremonial; Arne Spohr
2. Serenatas in the Service of Diplomacy in Baroque Venice; Giulia Giovani
3. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Wages of Diplomatic Service; Jonathan Yaeger
4. Conflicting Dreams of Global Harmony in US-PRC Silk Road Diplomacy; Harm Langenkamp
PART II: MEDIATION
5. Constructing Universality in Early Modern French Treatises on Music and Dance; Ellen R. Welch
6. Perpetual Peace and the Idea of "Concert" in Eighteenth-Century Thought; Frédéric Ramel
7. "Jazz—Made in Germany" and the Transatlantic Beginnings of Jazz Diplomacy; Mario Dunkel
8. Music from the Embassy to the Underground in a Post-Soviet Belarus; M. Paula Survilla
PART III: NEGOTIATION
9. The Princesse des Ursins, Loyal Subject of the King of France and Foreign Princess in Rome; Anne-Madeleine Goulet (translated by Rebekah Ahrendt)
10. Haitian Djaz Diplomacy and the Cultural Politics of Musical Collaboration; Melvin L. Butler
11. The US Department of State's "Hip Hop Diplomacy" in Morocco; Kendra Salois
12. Opening up Thinking Space for Improvised Collaborative Public Diplomacy; Willow Williamson
Afterword: Music's Powers; Danielle Fosler-Lussier

To purchase the book, click here.