Jonathan Pieslak


Academic Researcher and Composer

My 2015 book, Radicalism & Music (Wesleyan University Press), examines the music cultures of al-Qa'ida, the Racist Skinheads, Christian-Affiliated Radicalism, and Eco-Animal Rights Militancy.  Click here to read more, or go to the Wesleyan University Press page or Amazon.

​New and Upcoming

  • Dr. Nelly Lahoud and I co-authored an extensive article on the history, influence, text, and sound of the anashid of the Islamic State. The article is published in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.​

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  • The collected edition, Jihadi Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2017) edited by Thomas Hegghammer, includes my article, "A Musicological Perspective on Jihadi anashid".


  • The forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Protest Music (Oxford University Press), edited by Noriko Manabe and Eric Drott, includes my chapter, "The Islamic State as Social Movement Organization and the Concept of Protest in its Anashid."


  • Presently, I am part of a team project exploring the mobilizing influence of media in the jihadi-Salafist movement, particularly the Islamic State. This project is funded by a Minerva Grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. See the Current Research page for more details.

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