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

Outdated and out of time: Biden’s crusade for global democracy is doomed to fail

Simon Tisdall Biden’s division of the world into “for us or against us” camps carries uncomfortable echoes of George W Bush, circa 2001, and of Putin himself. That it is America’s manifest destiny (updated version) to defend and promote freedom and democracy everywhere is a message that normally plays well with US voters. At least,… Read More Outdated and out of time: Biden’s crusade for global democracy is doomed to fail

Dilip

Covid reshaped the global labour market – these strikes are just the start

Between ageing populations, shifting attitudes and challenges to capitalist beliefs, workers have unprecedented power James Meadway As strikes and labour disputes surge around the world, we appear to be at the beginning of a period in which the balance of power in workplaces and labour markets swings in favour of workers, having long been skewed… Read More Covid reshaped the global labour market – these strikes are just the start

Dilip

How the foreign press is being silenced: The Foreign Correspondents’ Club

From visa uncertainty to deportation threats, foreign correspondents recount in surveys how Modi government is making it harder for them to report from India. Arunabh Saikia India’s tax crackdown on the BBC, weeks after it aired a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has made news around the world. But foreign correspondents based in… Read More How the foreign press is being silenced: The Foreign Correspondents’ Club

Dilip

Why have young men fallen out of love with romantic relationships?

Arwa Mahdawi  A recent Pew Research study has found that 63% of men under 30 describe themselves as single, compared with 34% of women in the same age bracket. Cue a lot of dramatic headlines about, as the Hill put it, the “larger breakdown in the social, romantic and sexual life of the American male”. I imagine the Hill… Read More Why have young men fallen out of love with romantic relationships?

Dilip

Matt Sheehan: Silent documentary on China’s unspooling environmental disasters

First posted January 26, 2016 The 2015 film “Behemoth” opens with an mining explosion and closes with a ghost city. The 84 minutes in between are a wordless exploration of what connects the two — the environmental tragedy that has mirrored China’s economic miracle. Shot over several years in the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi,… Read More Matt Sheehan: Silent documentary on China’s unspooling environmental disasters

Dilip

Month after Hindenburg report, Adani stock fall shows short seller’s findings could have been right

TCA SHARAD RAGHAVAN A month after the release of the Hindenburg Research report, which claimed stocks of the Adani Group’s companies are substantially overvalued, its assessment seems to be turning out to be correct and in some cases — nearly exactly so. The report was released on 24 January. In its original report, Hindenburg Research,… Read More Month after Hindenburg report, Adani stock fall shows short seller’s findings could have been right

Dilip

Avijit Pathak: JNU’s enemy without, within (2016)

First posted November 04, 2016 NB – Thank you Avijit, for this perceptive and timely warning. Those who want to protect democracy and the right to dissent need themselves to uphold dialogue and save higher education campuses from the destructive polemic that has overtaken radical politics over the years. Here is something I wrote on the… Read More Avijit Pathak: JNU’s enemy without, within (2016)

Dilip

Adani stock rout leaves tens of millions in Australian retirement savings exposed

Jonathan Barrett Tens of millions of dollars worth of Australian retirement savings have been exposed to the beleaguered Adani Group as the Indian conglomerate faces a stock rout after allegations of fraud. Several major superannuation funds, including those that cater for government workers in Queensland and employees at the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), invested in the company after… Read More Adani stock rout leaves tens of millions in Australian retirement savings exposed

Dilip