In this talk, Professor Skinner presents from his project, “Afropolitan Ethics: Music and Urban Culture in Bamako, Mali”, considering the contested idea of the nation and the political society it qualifies in contemporary Mali, from the celebration of the country’s fiftieth year of independence (2010) to the recent coup d’état (2012) and the manifold crises it has engendered and exacerbated. He will examine the patriotic expressions of an urban music culture that he describes as “Afropolitan,” rooted in a postcolonial city and routed through its global diasporas.