Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Danger and dignity in some of the world’s vanishing trades – a photo essay

From Egypt to Bangladesh, photographer Lucien Migné has documented the work of marginalised groups whose livelihoods have remained largely untouched by the modernisation of work by Chloé Farand – All photographs by Lucien Migné For a moment, the workers disappear in the clouds of dust that billow across the white limestone plains as the old circular… Read More Danger and dignity in some of the world’s vanishing trades – a photo essay

Dilip

China’s capitalist reforms are said to have moved 800 million out of extreme poverty – new data suggests the opposite

It has become an article of faith among many economists that China’s pro-market reforms of the 1980s and 1990s ushered in a sustained reduction in poverty. This narrative relies on figures from the World Bank, showing that over the past 40 years the number of people in China living in “extreme poverty” (less than US$1.90… Read More China’s capitalist reforms are said to have moved 800 million out of extreme poverty – new data suggests the opposite

Dilip

The Rise of the Sectarian University (in the USA)

Greg Conti It has quickly become a commonplace that American elite higher education is in a more perilous position than it has been in recent memory. Long-standing conservative discontent has crystallized as a result of recent events; multiple proposals targeting universities’ pocketbooks have been floated by lawmakers in the past weeks. Republican officials have made… Read More The Rise of the Sectarian University (in the USA)

Dilip

The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored

More than 5% of global emissions are linked to conflict or militaries but countries continue to hide the true scale Doug Weir n early 2022, journalists began to ask us how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was affecting the climate crisis. While we could point to landscape fires, burning oil refineries and the thirst of diesel-hungry military… Read More The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored

Dilip

The Gaza War and the Rest of the World

Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center In her evocative book, Drinking the Sea at Gaza, the Israeli journalist Amira Hass writes, “To me, Gaza embodies the entire saga of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; it represents the central contradiction of the state of Israel—democracy for some, dispossession for others; it is our exposed nerve.” The conflict in… Read More The Gaza War and the Rest of the World

Dilip

Vivek Mishra and Abdullah honoured with 5th Ankit – Junaid Social Harmony Award

The Ankit Junaid social harmony award for youth was started in September 2018, by Khudai Khidmatgar in memory of Hafiz Junaid and Ankit Saxena. Junaid was Killed brutally in a train two days before Eid  while Ankit, killed in Delhi for loving a girl from different faith. The fellowship and award includes a Memento, a Certificate, a Shawl and a Cash Award.  This Year 5th Ankit Junaid Social Harmony… Read More Vivek Mishra and Abdullah honoured with 5th Ankit – Junaid Social Harmony Award

Dilip

2023: the year governments looked at the climate crisis, and decided to persecute the activists

Owen Jones Injustice is easy to oppose after it has receded into the past, and there is no cost to imagining yourself as a hero long after the event. Everyone celebrates the suffragettes now, but at the time they were vilified as hateful spinsters and terrorists. McCarthyism is a pejorative political label on right and… Read More 2023: the year governments looked at the climate crisis, and decided to persecute the activists

Dilip