How To Do Politics With Art

Violaine Roussel is Professor of Sociology at the University of Paris 8, France, and Affiliated Faculty at the University of Southern California, USA. Anurima Banerji is Assistant Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

• Introduction (Violaine Roussel and Anurima Banerji)1. Composing Workers (William Roy)2. ‘Singing for a Cause’: Music and Political Mobilizations in Contemporary France (Lilian Mathieu)3. How Activist Plays Do Politics (Bleuwenn Lechaux)4. Nrityagram: Tradition and the Aesthetics of Transgression (Anurima Banerji)5. ‘Social Cinema’ & ‘Civic Debates:’ The Politicization of Films through Festivals in France (Audrey Mariette)6. Movie-Star Politics On and Off the Screen: Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty (Steven Ross)7. How Hollywood Agents Do Politics (Violaine Roussel)Afterword, A Filmmaker’s Perspective: On Ways of Viewing: Notes on the Making of Kamakha, Through Prayerful Eyes (Aparna Sharma)

'Artists of all stripes have been "doing" politics for a long time. Yet, there have been relatively few systematic interdisciplinary and cross national studies of this process. Banerji and Roussel provide us with an anthology that addresses this subject from multiple vantage points. This volume is certain to become a landmark text that moves the discussion forward in new and exciting ways.' - Mabel Berezin, Cornell University, U.S.A'The arts take a step away from daily life only to step back in and imbue life with aesthetic charge. This book enriches our understanding of that process, asking how the arts afford and nurture forms of political action.' - Tia DeNora, Exeter University, UK