Cooley/Barz Critical Review #ERROR:NaN

Cooley and Barz give a clear and concise overview of the evolution of the field of ethnomusicology and the parallel evolution of fieldwork, pointing out the origins of key ethnomusicology concepts (reflexivity, the science paradigm, connection between ethnomusicology and colonialism, nationalism as motivation, etc.)

One little thing I greatly appreciated was this sentence, after the authors had pointed out some flaws in early examples of ethnomusicology: "We do not wish to question the quality and integrity of the pioneering work of these early scholars, only to historically and socially situate their work and to suggest how their shadows impact our own fieldwork. " A lot of ethnomusicologists seem to attack authors with which they disagree, on a close-to-personal level which turns me off. It's nice to see someone giving others credit for doing a good, but not perfect job.

The article wraps up by explaining why the old standard of fieldwork is dead, and explains key qualities of the new fieldwork - still emphasizing face to face interaction, but now with an understanding of the interconnectedness of the local and the global and more open-ended ways to do fieldwork (other than 12 months in an "exotic" location).