Radicals on the Road: Internationalism, Orientalism, and Feminism during the Vietnam Era by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu (review)

Abstract

example, the role that music played in the girding of Anders Brevik for the 2011 mass murder he carried out at a Labor Party youth camp in Norway in which 69 people died. Likewise, he offers a similar set of observations about the role that music continues to play in the self-programming of Islamic extremists, up to and including its part in acts of suicidal terrorism. It should, perhaps, be noted, however, that the chapter on Islamic radicalism suffers in comparison to the other three case studies— it is telling that it is the shortest of these chapters. This is, no doubt, a product of the problem of access. It might have been better to end rather than open with this case study, allowing the insights derived from the other three to cast critical light upon it. This is, nevertheless, a small complaint about an otherwise excellent book. Pieslak concludes with a set of reflections on the power of music to serve the interests of these different political groups, and gestures toward future study. In the final paragraph of the book, he points to the danger that lies “in assuming that music cannot be dangerous” (252). What might, in abstract, sound like the observations of an Allan Bloom or Tipper Gore gains credence from the preceding analysis. One can but hope that such future study is carried out with the care, nuance, and sagacity of this author.