Music and fascism 33 1/3 Europe

This is a brief and informal call for expressions of interest in contributing a book related to the evolving far-right for the 33 1/3 Europe book series.

Far-right nationalist (or fascist?) parties are rising across Europe. They won big enough in the elections for the European Parliament earlier this month to move the needle in the continent’s most powerful institution in the coming years. The relationship between music and politics cannot be conceived only or primarily in direct and causal terms. The two intersect in various ways—artists are sensitive to aspects of political culture, music is entangled in spaces and counter-spaces of fascism, and affective flows in political culture have a sonic dimension. There’s been a surge of interest in this topic. A research team in Germany and the Netherlands (involving the great Mario Dunkel and Melanie Schiller among others) has produced important research on music in rightwing populism. A CFP for a book titled “The Rising Right” was announced on this list a few days ago.

I’m interested in short proposals (50-150 words) from scholars interested in writing a short book on an album related to these changes in Europe’s political environment, ideally incorporating an international comparative perspective. The term album can be interpreted flexibly. It can be an album in the conventional sense but also a playlist or an assemblage of TikTok memes with some stability (e.g. songs used for an electoral campaign). The digital environment is constantly changing, and this has implications for the album concept, too.

Please submit your proposal by September 1st via email to [email protected], with “This book kills fascists: 333 proposal” in the subject line. Authors will be notified by October 1st if they’re invited to develop a full proposal. The 33 1/33 Europe series publishes only a few books every year, and the field is very competitive.

Most sincerely,
Fabian Holt
Series editor, 33 1/3 Europe