In a typically contradictory move, globalisation, while promoting economic integration among elites, has exacerbated sectarianism everywhere else. Pankaj Mishra contradictoryeconomicelite Change image and share on social
German writers in the late 18th century were the first to uphold a prickly, literary nationalism, in reaction to the then dominance and prestige of French literature. Pankaj Mishra 18thcenturydominance Change image and share on social
The idea that modernisation makes for enhanced national power and rapid progress and helps everyone achieve greater happiness has its origins in the astonishing political, economic and military successes of western Europe in the 19th century. Pankaj Mishra 19thachieveastonish share on social
It should be no surprise that religion in the non-western world has failed to disappear under the juggernaut of industrial capitalism, or that liberal democracy finds its most dedicated saboteurs among the new middle classes. Pankaj Mishra capitalismclassdedicate share on social
Indonesia is hardly immune to catastrophic breakdowns, as the anti-Communist pogrom showed. But, like India, it has been relatively fortunate in evolving a mode of politics that can include many discontinuities - of class, region, ethnicity, and religion. Pankaj Mishra antibreakdowncatastrophic share on social
Tenured professors are more prone than the rest of us to think that the university is the universe. Pankaj Mishra professorpronerest Change image and 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
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
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
Force-backed humanitarianism, which relies on rational influence over events in other countries, may have been a more feasible project in the bipolar era of the Cold War, with its relatively defined and stable web of alliances and proxies. Pankaj Mishra alliancebackbipolar share on social
