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

Asim Ali – Collective surrender The story of New India is not being written by Narendra Modi alone

Historians of Nazi Germany have always been troubled with one central question: how could one of the most advanced, sophisticated countries of Europe descend into the depths of barbarism in such a short span of time, culminating in the murder of millions of people? Some historians, called the intentionalists,  emphasized the importance of Hitler’s master plan… Read More Asim Ali – Collective surrender The story of New India is not being written by Narendra Modi alone

Dilip

Bryan Fanning: People like us

Many of the early twentieth-century champions of eugenics were social democrats and feminists. All shared a belief that science and technocracy could re-engineer society for the better. Attempts to institutionalize eugenics coincided with the emergence of welfare states and infrastructure to monitor the ‘feebleminded’. What Malthus called the population question looms large in the intellectual history… Read More Bryan Fanning: People like us

Dilip

Adrian Chiles: A stranger on a train – and a small, stunning act of kindness

As simple unexpected acts of kindness go, this one will take some beating. I was on a train from London to Plymouth last Friday afternoon, on my way to a reunion of some university friends, among them people I’d not clapped eyes on for more than 30 years. Oddly, I found myself getting nervous about… Read More Adrian Chiles: A stranger on a train – and a small, stunning act of kindness

Dilip

Robert Reich: Is America experiencing an unofficial general strike?

Last Friday’s jobs report from the US Department of Labor elicited a barrage of gloomy headlines. The New York Times emphasized “weak” jobs growth and fretted that “hiring challenges that have bedeviled employers all year won’t be quickly resolved,” and “rising wages could add to concerns about inflation.” For CNN, it was “another disappointment”. For… Read More Robert Reich: Is America experiencing an unofficial general strike?

Dilip

When a Hindu is killed in Kashmir, all Kashmiri Muslims must condemn it, just as all Hindus must condemn lynching of Muslims anywhere in India – Sanjay Tickoo

Ajaz Ashraf interviews Sanjay Tickoo; president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti. The KPSS was established by him in 1995 to fight, non-violently, for the rights of his community members residing in the Kashmir Valley. When the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits began in 1990 because of the rise of militancy in the Valley, Tickoo, then around 23 years… Read More When a Hindu is killed in Kashmir, all Kashmiri Muslims must condemn it, just as all Hindus must condemn lynching of Muslims anywhere in India – Sanjay Tickoo

Dilip

N.S. Lyons: The Triumph and Terror of Wang Huning

NB: A very thought-provoking essay.    “The real cell of society in the United States is the individual…. the family, has disintegrated.’ (In the American system) “everything has a dual nature, and the glamour of high commodification abounds. Human flesh, sex, knowledge, politics, power, and law can all become the target of commodification (which) corrupts… Read More N.S. Lyons: The Triumph and Terror of Wang Huning

Dilip

Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn

World leaders must do more to prevent the destruction of nature, business leaders have warned before a summit in China that aims to draw up a draft UN agreement for biodiversity. In an open letter, the chief executives of Unilever, H&M and nine other companies have called on governments to take meaningful action on mass extinctions of wildlife… Read More Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn

Dilip

Siva Vaidhyanathan: Facebook has just suffered its most devastating PR catastrophe yet / Jonathan Freedland: Is Facebook the tobacco industry of the 21st century?

In recent days, Frances Haugen, a former member of Facebook’s “civic integrity team”, has launched a deft and professional public assault on the company. Unlike previous Facebook whistle-blowers, like former Facebook data scientist Sophie Zhang, Haugen managed to capture the interest and attention of policy leaders and journalists around the world. We have to ask why Haugen… Read More Siva Vaidhyanathan: Facebook has just suffered its most devastating PR catastrophe yet / Jonathan Freedland: Is Facebook the tobacco industry of the 21st century?

Dilip

P. B. Mehta: What the attacks against minorities in Kashmir reveal

India’s security environment is precarious, its political future fragile, and its human sympathies dead. It will require a great act of statesmanship to overcome these challenges. The targeted terror attacks against minorities in Kashmir mark a dangerous but not entirely unanticipated turn. It is important to be clear that these are targeted killings. Sikhs and Hindus… Read More P. B. Mehta: What the attacks against minorities in Kashmir reveal

Dilip