The Routledge Handbook of Popular Music and Politics of the Balkans is a comprehensive overview of major topics, established debates and new directions in the study of popular music and politics in this region. The vibrant growth of this subject area since the 1990s has been intertwined with the region’s political and socio-economic transformations, including the collapse of state socialism in much of the region, the break-up of Yugoslavia, the advent of neoliberal capitalism, the rise of Romani activism, the complex politics of ‘Europeanization’ before and after the global financial crisis, and the region’s relationship to the European Union border regime. The handbook illustrates the wide range of disciplines and methods that contribute to this field’s interdisciplinary dialogue and highlights emerging approaches such as the study of Black diasporas in the region, popular music’s links with LGBTQ+ communities, and the impact of digital technologies on musical cultures. This volume will benefit specialist researchers, tutors creating or refreshing courses on popular music in the region, and students interested in these topics, especially those who are at the point of developing their own independent research projects.

This volume foregrounds racial difference as a key to an alternative history of the Central and Eastern European region, which revolves around the role of whiteness as the unacknowledged foundation of semi-peripheral nation-states and national identities, and of the region’s current status as a global stronghold of unapologetic white, Christian nationalisms. Contributions address the pivotal role of whiteness in international diplomacy, geographical exploration, media cultures, music, intellectual discourses, academic theories, everyday language and banal nationalism’s many avenues of expressions. The book offers new paradigms for understanding the relationships among racial capitalism, populism, economic peripherality and race.

"Addresses censorship as a worldwide issue from its earliest recorded form to the modern day ; Includes unique case studies of music censorship unfamiliar to Western audiences ; Documents censorship through a necessarily intersectional lens." --Oxford University Press.

Throughout history and across the globe, governments have taken a strong hand in censoring music. Whether in the interests of "safeguarding" the moral and religious values of their citizens or of promoting their own political goals, the character and severity of actions taken to suppress and control music that has been categorized as unacceptable, immoral, or as the Nazi's termed the music of Jewish and modernist composers, "degenerate," ranges from economic sanctions to forced immigration, imprisonment, and death. Yet in almost all cases composers found methods to counter this suppression and to let their voices be heard, even through the very music they were often forced to compose for the oppressing parties. In this first major collection of its kind, thirty contributors tackle centuries of music censorship across the globe from the medieval era to the modern day. Case studies address a number of instances both well- and lesser-known, including the tumultuous history of Wagner and Israel, rap music in the United States, silencing of women composers, and music in post-revolutionary Iran. Sections are organized by nature of censorship - religious, racial, and sexual - and type of government enforcement - democratic, totalitarian, and transitional. Focusing on individual composers and artists as well as eras within single countries, this Handbook champions the efficacy of music as an agent of collective power and resilience.

On the crossroads between the cultural influences of perceived global models and local specificity, entangled in webs of post-communist complexity, Bulgarian popular music has evolved as a space of change and creativity on the edge of Europe. An ethnographic exploration, this book accesses insight from music figures from a spectrum of styles.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music and Social Class is the first extensive analysis of the most important themes and concepts in this field. Encompassing contemporary research in ethnomusicology, sociology, cultural studies, history, and race studies, the volume explores the intersections between music and class, and how the meanings of class are asserted and denied, confused and clarified, through music. With chapters on key genres, traditions, and subcultures, as well as fresh and engaging directions for future scholarship, the volume considers how music has thought about and articulated social class. It consists entirely of original contributions written by internationally renowned scholars, and provides an essential reference point for scholars interested in the relationship between popular music and social class.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in Turkey, stemming from the country’s developing role in regional and global politics, its expanding economic strength, and its identity as a predominantly Muslim country with secular political institutions and democratic processes. This Handbook provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging profile of modern Turkey. Bringing together original contributions from leading scholars with a wide range of backgrounds, this important reference work gives a unique in-depth survey of Turkish affairs, past and present. Thematically organised sections cover: Turkish history from the early Ottoman period to the present Turkish culture Politics and international relations Social issues Geography The Turkish economy and economics Presenting diverse and often competing views on all aspects of Turkish history, politics, society, culture, geography, and economics, this handbook will be an essential reference tool for students and scholars of Middle East studies, comparative politics, and culture and society.