Happily, financial capitalism and free trade have not done away with national languages and literatures, as Marx rather too blithely hoped. Pankaj Mishra blithelycapitalismfinancial Change image and share on social
Tanpinar presciently feared that to embrace the western conception of progress was to be mentally enslaved by a whole new epistemology, one that compartmentalised knowledge and concealed an instrumental view of human beings as no more than things to be manipulated. Pankaj Mishra beingcompartmentaliseconceal share on social
The Turkish, Arab and Chinese nationalists who built new nation-states out of the ruins of old empires scorned their old, decrepit rulers as much as they did the foreign imperialists who imposed free trade through gunboats. Pankaj Mishra arabbuildchinese share on social
Devout Anatolian masses rising from poverty have transformed Turkey politically and economically. Pankaj Mishra anatoliandevouteconomically Change image and share on social
The Indonesian nationalists, mainly Javanese, who threw the Dutch out - in 1949, after a four-year struggle - were keen to preserve their inheritance and emulated the coercion, deceit, and bribery of the colonial rulers. Pankaj Mishra briberycoercioncolonial share on social
It turns out that globalisation, while promising sameness through brand-name consumption, was fostering, through uneven economic growth, an intense feeling of difference. Pankaj Mishra brandconsumptiondifference Change image and share on social
Just as China achieved much more than India in the realm of public health and education under an austere Communist regime, so its economic growth under a capitalist-friendly government strikes a visitor from India as nothing less than spectacular. Pankaj Mishra achieveausterecapitalist share on social
In December 2004, I travelled on the road from Uzbekistan across the Oxus River on which the first Soviet convoys had rolled into Afghanistan 25 years before. Pankaj Mishra afghanistanconvoydecember Change image and share on social
Life in a Chinese village is much more organised because the Chinese Communist Party has a presence even in the remotest Chinese village - a presence of the kind that no governmental or non-governmental organisation has in Indian villages. Pankaj Mishra chinesecommunistgovernmental share on social
Ineptitude and negligence directed British policies in India more than any cynical desire to divide and rule, but the British were not above exploiting rivalries. Pankaj Mishra britishcynicaldesire Change image and share on social
