Radicalism & Music: An Introduction to the Music Cultures of al-Qa’ida, Racist Skinheads, Christian-Affiliated Radicals, and Eco-Animal Rights Militants by Jonathan R. Pieslak (review)

Readers like me who enjoyed Jonathan Pieslak’s first book Sound Targets: American Soldiers and Music in the Iraq War (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009) will be pleased to see he has written another book probing the use of music in communities that we may not consider musical. For Radicalism & Music, Pieslak has chosen to examine four communities and their music, case studies of which make up the first four chapters of the book: (1) al-Qa’ida and jihad-themed anashid; (2) racist skin-heads, especially the Hammerskin Nation, and white-supremacist-themed punk, Oi!, hardcore, metal, and “softer” styles; (3) a group Pieslak calls “Christian-Affiliated Radicals” that includes the Westboro Baptist Church and their pop song parodies as well as the children’s music of Christian fundamentalist groups; and (4) environmental and animal-rights militants, folk-protest songs, and the more recent straight-edge hardcore styles. In the final chapter, “Understanding Music’s Roles in Radical Culture,” and in a closing section that follows, Pieslak reflects on the similarities among his case studies and considers music’s ability to shape individuals and communities.

Part of the book’s appeal is in the opportunity it affords to glance inside communities that we may find repulsive but also fascinating. Each case study opens with a narrated scene that describes a musical moment from the community under discussion: a young Muslim man radicalized by al-Qa’ida committing murder after listening to Islamist anashid; Hammerskins enjoying fellowship at a St. Paddy’s Day concert and barbecue; members of the Westboro Baptist Church protesting a Veterans Day celebration with song parodies mocking the “filthy” morals of America; and a left-wing bookstore hosting a concert featuring protest songs with radical environmentalist themes. He follows each vignette with a historical account of the movement and the use of music within it, and then explores specific examples of genres, styles, bands, artists, labels and fans within the scene. Pieslak’s accounts of these subcultures draw on an impressive quantity and variety of primary and secondary sources, including firsthand accounts of community events, interviews, and letters from people involved or formerly involved in them; some of the letters were written from prison, where their authors are doing time for extremist activities.

The central thesis of the book is convincing: music is typically a key, defining element in the life of radical communities that does a range of “helpful” cultural work within them, including drawing in new recruits, building community among members, expressing identity, disseminating beliefs, motivating members to action, and even, in the case of white-supremacist groups, raising money for their cause. An important insight the book offers is that new recruits are not typically drawn into radicalism because of extremist ideas, but because of the relationships they forge, either in person or online, with members. And music often facilitates those initial relationships, for example, as a subject of shared interest online, or through shared experience at a concert. Another chilling similarity among several radicals who engage in violent and criminal activity is the use of music before, during, or after to embolden them in their exploits.

The fact that music may play an important role in spurring on members of radical communities to act in disturbing ways for their cause is a central issue that I wish had been treated with more nuance. No doubt disquieted by the numerous examples he has documented where radicals were inspired by music to do horrific things, Pieslak concludes that music has a chilling potential to be dangerous. What he does not answer well, even with a chapter (no. 5) full of theories to explain...