Abstract

Attali subtitles his book “The Political Economy of Music,” which, combined with the author's background as a professor of economic theory and an advisor to former French President Mitterrand, may warn the reader that this is a dry piece of Marxist analysis. Though Attali's historical analysis of music is thoroughly economic, his honest critiques of Marxism and his downright libertarian, Utopian and anti-economistic conclusions are surprising and welcome. His points of reference are always wholly human and his vision is painted with imagination and colors that flow straight from the struggles of May 1968. In describing an evolution and anatomy of power through its tools in everyday life.