Dr. Kuttner’s work featured in new book on hip-hop and politics

The recently published book, The Organic Globalizer Hip Hop, Political Development, and Movement Culture (Bloomsbury Press)features the work of the Department’s own Dr. Paul Kuttner. The book was edited by Dr. Chris Malone of Pace University and award winning artist and activist George Martinez, and brings together an international, interdisciplinary group of authors to offer a groundbreaking analysis of how hip-hop culture is serving as a space for consciousness raising, institution building, and political action around the world.

Kuttner co-authored a chapter on developing youth civic engagement and critical literacy through hip-hop culture, titled (Re)Building the Cypher: Fulfilling the Promise of Hip-Hop for Liberation. The chapter is based on Kuttner’s dissertation research, and was co-written with Mariama White-Hammond, former executive director of the Boston-based youth organization Project HIP-HOP (Highways Into the Past, History, Organizing, and Power). Using the metaphor of the hip-hop cypher, the authors offer a framework for developing justice-oriented hip-hop communities by connecting youth to their past, their peers, and their purpose. Currently, Dr. Kuttner is in the process of putting together a Spring 2015 event connected to the book at the main branch of the SLC public library.

For more info, and to get a discount on the book, visit http://organicglobalizer.com/