The terrorist attacks of 9/11 briefly disrupted celebrations of a world globalised by capital and consumption. Pankaj Mishra attackbrieflycapital Change image and share on social
Though there are laws against blasphemy and insult to religion in many European countries, France has institutionalised its anti-clerical past by proscribing religion from public life. Pankaj Mishra antiblasphemyclerical Change image and share on social
I think subsuming political and economic conflicts into some grand 'clash of civilisations' theory or 'the West versus the rest' binary is a particularly insidious form of ideological deception. Pankaj Mishra binarycivilisationclash Change image and share on social
The Sino-Indian War in 1962 has fundamentally shaped and distorted Indian attitudes towards China. It also obscured a great deal of what has happened in China since 1962. Pankaj Mishra attitudechinadeal Change image and share on social
An enlarged global public society, with its many dissenting and corrective voices, can quickly call the bluff of lavishly credentialled and smug intellectual elites. Pankaj Mishra bluffcallcorrective Change image and share on social
Political elites look increasingly interchangeable: Blair, Brown, and Cameron have all tried to provide cover for the surrender of sovereignty to foreign investors with invocations of 'British' values, and, more opportunistically, anti-immigrant rhetoric. Pankaj Mishra antiblairbritish share on social
Though blessed with many able administrators, the British found India just too large and diverse to handle. Many of their decisions stoked Hindu-Muslim tensions, imposing sharp new religious-political identities on Indians. Pankaj Mishra administratorblessbritish share on social
Britain's unique success as an industrialised nation-state prompted strong imitative endeavours not only across Europe, but also in Asia. Now many people, who were once humiliated into a sense of nationality by British rule, loom larger than their former masters. Pankaj Mishra asiabritainbritish share on social
Minorities within nation-states frayed by global capitalism are naturally more resentful of hollowed-out but still heavily centralised systems of political and economic domination. Pankaj Mishra capitalismcentralisedomination Change image and share on social
After the oil crisis of 1973, many European countries tightened restrictions on immigrants. By then, millions of Muslims had decided to settle in Europe, preferring the social segregation and racial discrimination they found in the West to political and economic turmoil at home. Pankaj Mishra countrycrisisdecide share on social