Music 209r: Music and the Anthropology of Ethics and Morality

Fall 2017
Professor Ingrid Monson
Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music
Wednesdays 1-3
Davison Room
Music Building

Brief Course Description

The seminar explores the literature on the anthropology of ethics and morality in conjunction
with ethnomusicological case studies from Egypt, Mali, India, Trinidad, Uganda, Zimbabwe,
African America and U.S. racial relations. In the last ten years a burgeoning anthropology of
ethics and morality has addressed longstanding issues of cultural relativism, diversity,
resistance, and personhood in new ways. Building on Durkheim and Foucault, authors such as
Zigon, Fassin, Laidlaw, Csordas, Lambek, and others have drawn attention to the pluralist
quality of moral diversity, the relationship of ethics and freedom, and the lived experience of
morality and ethics. At the same time scholars such as Rommen, Skinner, Shelemay, and
Perman have raised ethical issues in ethnomusicology. The seminar convenes a conversation to
synthesize, critique and extend the insights of this literature.

Background:

The idea to offer a seminar on Music and the Anthropology of Ethics and Morality grew from
my work on Mali’s Neba Solo, a Senufo xylophonist from Sikasso Mali. Music in Mali comments
extensively on ethics and morality. Artists exhort people to live up to the ethical ideals of their
ancestors, to treat each other with compassion, and to be critical of leaders who do not put the
common good ahead of their personal ambitions. A coup d’etat in Mali in 2012 plunged Mali
into deep debates about democracy and the importance of Mande and Islamic ethics as the
country faced armed jihadist insurgency, demands for Tuareg independence, a corrupt
president, a weak state, and a worsening economy. As I contextualized Neba Solo’s post-coup
d’etat music within contemporary political events in Mali, political discourse in the U.S. also
became centrally concerned with ethics, as the new Trump administration has proved itself to
be astonishing in its ethical breeches.

We consequently begin the seminar by comparing the ethical outrage in contemporary press
accounts from Mali and the U.S. in which writers lament the current condition of their
countries. We then dive into the new literature on the Anthropology of Ethics and Morality. I
have tried to pair ethnographic readings with these more theoretically oriented articles. Over
the next five class meetings we will read a broad cross section of this theoretical literature as
we engage with ethnographic examples from Egypt, Mali, and African American sacred music.
We then turn to the question of sound archives and the history of colonialism in Africa, and
gender, sex and ethics in India and the UK. The last two course meetings concern ethics and
U.S. race relations, as we look at hip hop, the politics and ethics of white allies, and the
disturbing re-emergence of white nationalism and racial resentment.

Course Requirements and Expectations

1. You are required to complete the weekly readings and participate actively in class discussion.

2. Each week two students will open class discussion by summarizing the key points of the
readings, and raising important questions to discuss. The two discussion leaders will meet in
advance of class to coordinate their summaries and questions.

3. Each student will be required to write a one to two-page reading response paper each week.
Select one to two ideas from the readings that you think are particularly significant or
interesting. Tell me why they interest you or inspire your critique. I will read these before our
class meetings.

4. You are required to write a 15-20 page paper on a project related to the course materials.
Submit your project proposal, a 1-3 page description of your project with bibliography, by
October 25. You are required to orally present your project to the class in the one of the last
two class sessions. The paper itself will be due December 8.

Syllabus

Sept 6 Ethical Outrage: The U.S. and Mali

1. Sarah Posner, “Trump and Republicans Break Impressive New Ground in the Erosion of Our
Norms,” Washington Post, August 21, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-
line/wp/2017/08/21/trump-and-republicans-break-impressive-new-ground-in-the-erosion-of-
our-norms/

2. Bruce Whitehouse, “Corruption and the Presidential Plane,” Bridges from Bamako, August
15, 2017, https://bridgesfrombamako.com/2017/08/15/corruption-and-the-presidential-plane/
3. Richard Cohen, “It’s too late to Disavow Trump,” New York Times, August 21, 2017,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-too-late-to-disavow-
trump/2017/08/21/d6083002-8698-11e7-961d-2f373b3977ee_story.html

4. Konaté, Diala Thiény. “Moeurs et Religion: Le Réveil Tardif des Leaders Musulmans du Mali,”
Maliactu.net, July 14, 2017. http://maliactu.net/moeurs-et-religion-le-reveil-tardif-des-leaders-
musulmans-du-mali/

Rough English translation:

“Morals and Religion: The Tardy Awakening of Mali’s Muslim Leaders.”

5. Jennifer Rubin, “As Trump Debases the Presidency, the Religious Right Looks Away,”
Washington Post July 28, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-
turn/wp/2017/07/28/as-trump-debases-the-presidency-the-religious-right-looks-away/?
utm_term=.85f01da45734

6. Maiga, Idrissa. “Allah ka Tigne Deme,” L’Aube, July 7, 2014,

http://www.maliweb.net/editorial/edito-allah-ka-tigne-deme-403002.html

Rough English Translation: “May God Help the Truth Triumph”

7. Comaroff, Jean and John Comaroff. Theory From the South: Or, How Euro-America is Evolving
Toward Africa. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2011, pp. 1-7. (I’ve given you the whole
chapter but you can stop at page 7).

Sept 13 Cultural Relativism and the Anthropology of Ethics

1. Brown, Michael. 2008. “Cultural Relativism 2.0,” Current Anthropology 49(3): 363-383. Read
the responses as well.

2. Laidlaw, James. 2002. “For an Anthropology of Ethics and Freedom,” Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute 8(2): pp, 311-332.

3. Zigon, Jarrett. 2008. Morality: An Anthropological Perspective. Oxford: Berg, Introduction.

4. Perman, Tony. 2011. “The Ethics of Ndau Performance: Questioning Ethnomusicology’s

Aesthetics.” Journal of Musicological Research 30: 227-252. This is a long article; you can stop
at p. 240.

September 20 The Ethics of Ethnography

1. Shelemay, Kay. 2013. “The Ethics of Ethnomusicology in a Cosmopolitan Age,” in The
Cambridge History of World Music, edited by Philip Bohlman, pp. 786-806, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

2. “Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association,” February 2009.

3. “Position Statement on Ethics,” Society for Ethnomusicology, 1998.

4. Barz, Gregory and Timothy Cooley, Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in
Ethnomusicology. 2nd ed. 2008. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-24.

5. James Clifford, 1983. “On Ethnographic Authority.” Representations No. 2: pp. 118-146.

Sept 27 Ethical Listening in Cairo

1. Hirschkind, Ethical Soundscape, chapter 1, Chapter 3

2. Csordas, Thomas. 2013. “Morality as a Cultural System,” Current Anthropology 54(5): 523-
536.
Oct 4 Afropolitan Ethics in Bamako
1. Skinner, Ryan. 2015. Bamako Sounds: The Afropolitan Ethics of Malian Music. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 2015, Chapter 1, Chapter 6

2. Niane, D T. 1965. Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Essex, England: Longman, 1965, excerpts.

3. Fassin, Didier. 2008. “Beyond Good and Evil? Questioning the Anthropological Discomfort
with Morals.” Anthropological Theory 8(4): 333-344.

October 11 Ethical Assemblages in Mali

1. Monson, Ingrid, manuscript. The Voice of Kenedougou, Chapter 2, Chapter 6

3. Zigon, Jarrett. “Attunement and Fidelity: Two Ontological Conditions for Morally Being-in-the-
world.” Ethos 42, no. 1 16–30
.
4. Delanda, Manuel. 2006. A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social
Complexity. London: Continuum. Chapter 1.

Oct 18 Conviction and Christian Ethics in African American Sacred Music

1. Rommen, Timothy. ‘Mek Some Noise’: Gospel Music and the Ethics of Style in Trinidad.
Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. xiv-xx, 1-19.

2. Shelley, Braxton. 2017. “Sermons in Song: Richard Smallwood, the Vamp, and the Gospel
Imagination,” Ph.D. diss: University of Chicago, pp. 52-64

3. Reagon, Bernice. 1998. “’Oh Freedom’”: Music of the Movement. In Circle of Trust:
Remembering SNCC, edited by Cheryl Lynn Greenberg, pp. 110-126. Brunswick: Rutgers
University Press.

October 25: Repatriation and Archives: Legacies of Colonialism

1. Nannyonga-Tamusuza, Sylvia and Andrew N. Weintraub. 2012. “The Audible Future:
Reimagining the Role of Sound Archives and Sound Repatriation in Uganda”. Ethnomusicology
56(2): 206-233.

2. Cooke, Peter. 2015.“A Response to Sylvia Nannyonga-Tamusuza and Andrew N. Weintraub’s

‘The Audible Future: Reimagining the Role of Sound Archives and Sound Repatriation in
Uganda.’ Ethnomusicology 59(3): 475-479.

3. Nannyonga-Tamusuza, Sylvia and Andrew N.Weintraub. 2015.“A Response to Peter Cooke’s

Response.” Ethnomusicology 59(3): 480-482.

4. Chikowero, Mhoze. 2015. African Music, Power, and Being in Colonial Zimbabwe.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 131-153.
5. Edwards, Brent Hayes. 2016. “The Sound of Anticolonialism.” In Audible Empire: Music,
Global Politics, Critique, edited by Ronald Radano and Tejumola Olanyan, pp. 252-273, Durham:
Duke University Press.

Nov 1 Sex, Gender, Sex, and Ethics

Due: Turn in your semester project proposal with bibliography

1. Morcom, Anna. 2013. Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance: Cultures of Exclusion. New York: Oxford
University Press, pp. 142-170.

2. Dave, Naisargi N.2010 “Between Queer Ethics and Sexual Morality.” In Ordinary Ethics edited
by Michael Lambek, pp. 368-375. New York: Fordham University Press.

3. Day, Sophie. “Ethics between Public and Private: Sex Workers’ Relationships in London.” In
Ordinary Ethics edited by Michael Lambek, pp. 292-309. New York: Fordham University Press.

4. Michael Lambek, “Introduction.” In Ordinary Ethics edited by Michael Lambek, pp. 1-12. New
York: Fordham University Press.

Nov 8. Hip Hop and Ethics

1. Shelby, Tommie. 2015. “Impure Dissent: Hip Hop and Political Ethics of Marginalized Black
Urban Youth.” In From Voice to Influence: Understanding Citizenship in a Digital Age, edited by
Danielle Allen and Jennifer Light, pp. 59-78. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

2. Parham, Angel and Danielle Allen. 2015. “Achieving Rooted Cosmopolitanism in a Digital
Age.” In From Voice to Influence: Understanding Citizenship in a Digital Age, edited by Danielle
Allen and Jennifer Light, pp. 254-272. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

3. Rose, Tricia. 2008. The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk about When We Talk about Hip Hop—
and Why it Matters. New York: Basic Books, pp. 95-112; 113-132.

4. Davis, Kimberly Cabot. 2014. Beyond the White Negro: Empathy and Anti-Racist Reading.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, pp. 27-36.

Nov 15 Whiteness and Ethics

1. Davis, Kimberly Cabot. 2014. Beyond the White Negro: Empathy and Anti-Racist Reading.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, pp. 1-26.

2. Calderon, JLove and Tim Wise, “Code of Ethics for Antiracist White Allies.”
http://jlovecalderon.com/code-of-ethics-for-antiracist-white-allies/
3. Dejean, Ashley. “The Case for Naming and Shaming White Supremacists.” Mother Jones.
August 17, 2017. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/08/the-case-for-naming-and-
shaming-white-supremacists/

4. Ellis, Emma Grey. “Whatever Your Side, Doxing is a Perilous Form of Justice.” Wired August
17, 2017. https://www.wired.com/story/doxing-charlottesville/

5. Black Derek, “Leaving White Nationalism,” The Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law
Center. August 21, 2013. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-
report/2013/leaving-white-nationalism

6. Black Derek. “What White Nationalism Gets Right About American History.” New York Times
August 19, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/19/opinion/sunday/white-nationalism-
american-history-statues.html?mcubz=3

Nov 22 No Class Thanksgiving

Nov 29 Semester Project Presentations

Dec 6 Semester Project presentations

Dec 8 Final Papers due