Sounding Dissent: Rebel Songs, Resistance, and Irish Republicanism(Music and Social Justice)

The signing of the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998, marked the beginning of a new era of peace and stability in Northern Ireland. As the public overwhelmingly rejected a return to the violence of the Troubles, loyalist and republican groups sought other outlets to continue their struggle. Music, which has long been used to celebrate cultural identity in the North of Ireland, became a key means of facilitating the continuation of pre-Agreement identity narratives in a “post-conflict” era. Sounding Dissent draws on three years of sustained fieldwork within Belfast's rebel music scene, in-depth interviews with republican musicians, contemporary audiences, and former paramilitaries, as well as diverse historical and archival material, including songbooks, prison records, and newspaper articles, to understand the history of political violence in Ireland.The book examines the potential of rebel songs to memorialize a pantheon of republican martyrs, and demonstrates how musical performance and political song not only articulate experiences and memories of oppression and violence, but also play a central role in the reproduction of conflict and exclusion in times of peace.

Table of Contents:
List of Abbreviations and Irish Words Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Irish Rebel Songs and Their Origins Chapter 2. The Red and the Green Chapter 3. Irish Rebel Songs and the Onset of the Troubles Chapter 4. Music from the Blocks Chapter 5. Sounding Dissent Chapter 6. Performing Pre-Agreement Narratives in a “Post-Conflict” Era Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Stephen R. Millar is Lecturer in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology at Queen’s University Belfast.

Review :
“The author brings a wealth of detail and insight into the roles played by music and conflict in recent Irish history, in a manner that is suitable for a broader audience, whilst also informing the sub-field of ‘ethnomusicology in times of trouble’. . . . every university library needs a copy.” —Ethnomusicology Forum "Excellent and original work. . . . the depth of primary research and the evidence of immersion in a closed world give this book an attractive energy and focus.” —Popular Music and Society “a fascinating case study in overt resistance to the state through music . . . This ethnography will be of interest to anyone exploring music, resistance, nationalism, or commemoration and identity construction more broadly and issues relating to music in post-conflict societies more specifically.” —Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "a fascinating study of the trajectory of Irish rebel music . . . it usefully highlights how the Irish rebel music scene has become another arena for articulating and expressing differences among the wider Irish republican constituency . . . Millar’s book creates the space for a more nuanced discussion around the growing popularity of Irish rebel music in a post-GFA context.” —Oral History "Millar’s rich and evocative study will enlighten readers interested in Irish history, memory politics and ethnomusicology. It illustrates that the Irish republican movement has by no means run out of cultural resources to exploit.” —Cercles "If one of the book’s aims might be to illuminate how Irish music and politics are continuously connected, then the book has achieved this goal tenfold . . . essential reading for any ethnographers working in such an environment." —Popular Music “Sets the standard for oral historians of Northern Irish political culture.” —Irish Historical Studies "A hugely valuable book for its revelatory research into rebel songs [and] a valuable contribution to the burgeoning literature on the use of music in conflict situations." —Ethnomusicology Ireland "A welcome ameliorative to the dearth of attention that rebel songs have received over the years . . . Millar gives excellent insights into the development and influences on the contemporary canon of rebel songs . . . the deep dive into rebel subculture in Belfast in this study is one of its many strengths." —Irish Political Studies High Commendation: British Association for Irish Studies (BAIS) 2021 Book Prize "Sounding Dissent: Rebel Songs, Resistance, and Irish Republicanism is a thoroughly researched work, with careful references to historical and cultural commentary and to the author’s own fieldwork. . . All in all, I would recommend the book for those who are interested in song and in Irish History. Well done, Dr. Millar."