Book Review: The New Rulers of the World by John Pilger

John Pilger is an Australian investigative journalist and documentary film-maker who lives in London. In this book, Pilger exposes the myth of globalization. He gives a detailed analysis of the events in Indonesia.  He reveals how General Suharto came to power in 1960s due to western agenda which marked start of the imposition of the ‘global economy’ upon Asia.

The author brings to light the nature of modern imperialism. He unveils its secrets and illusions. Pilger states that about a million people died in Indonesia because of the World Bank’s ‘model pupil’. Atrocities of the western powers in Iraq also covered. With that, he also discusses the subjugation of the Aboriginal people in Australia.

Pilgers says that a sophisticated system of plunder has forced more than ninety countries into ‘structural adjustment’ programs since the eighties, widening the divide between rich and poor as never before. According to him this results in a world where an elite of fewer than a billion people controls 80 per cent of humanity’s wealth. The author objects to the West’s claims of furthering development of the poor world. He says that although members of the United Nations have agreed that the rich countries should give a minimum of 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Product in genuine aid to the poor world, Britain gives just 0.34 percent and the United States barely registers, with 0.19 (p. 121).

Pilger believes that ‘when great truths are omitted, myths take their place, and the nature and pattern of great power are never explained to the public’ (p. 128). He criticizes the academic hierarchy by mentioning the politics departments. As per Pilger, in these departments the task of liberal realists is to ensure that western imperialism is intercepted as crises management, rather than the cause of the crises and its escalation. By never recognizing western state terrorism, their complicity is assured. To state this simple truth is deemed unscholarly; better to say nothing (p. 156).

Writing about the Aboriginal population the author states that the life expectancy of the Aborgines is up to twenty-five years shorter than whites, lower than in most countries and matched only in India and Central Africa (p. 165). Pilger’s solution for the Australian tragedy is through justice and political will.

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Book Review: The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by Bell Hooks

 

Bell Hooks says that militant feminism gave women permission to unleash their rage and hatred at men but it did not allow us to talk about what it meant to love men in patriarchal culture, to know how we could express that love without fear of exploitation and oppression. To simply label men as oppressors and dismiss them meant we never had to give voice to the gaps in our understanding or to talk about maleness in complex ways. She believes that feminist thinking and practice are the only way in which the crises of masculinity can be addressed.

The author writes that ‘we live in a culture where emotionally starved, deprived females are desperately seeking male love.’ She admits that many women cannot hear male pain about love because it sounds like an indictment of female failure. Moreover, she also writes about her own case where she did not want to hear about her partner’s feelings and pain. Moreover, in the book the author says that majority of the patriarchal attitudes are taught by mothers. These attitudes are reinforced in schools and religious institutions.

The author states that dismantling and changing patriarchal culture is the work that men and women must do together (p. 24). Further in the book, the author writes that feminist researchers are often unwilling or reluctant to target practical thinking. She believes that when men embrace feminist thinking and practice, which emphasizes the value of mutual growth and self-actualization in all relationships, their emotional well-being will be enhanced.

The popularization of gangsta rap, spearheaded by white male executives in the music industry, gave a public voice to patriarchy and woman-hating. The author views contemporary books and movies offer clear portraits of the evils of patriarchy without offering any direction for change. In her view until there is creation of a popular culture that affirms and celebrates masculinity without upholding patriarchy, there will be no change in the way masses of males think about the nature of their identity.

Further in the book, the author writes that it is possible to critique patriarchy without hating men. Without citing any figures, the author states that working women are far more likely than other women to be irritable. She states that ‘women want to be recognized, seen, and cared about by the men in our lives.’ She further stresses that love cannot exist with domination.

In the concluding chapter the author writes that those of us who love men do not want to continue our journey without them. We need them beside us because we love them. She believes that a culture of healing that empowers males to change is in the making. Healing does not take place in isolation. Men who love and men who long to love know this. She stresses that women should stand by them, with open hearts and open arms (p. 188).

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Book Review: Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

 

Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get the outcomes one wants. This can be done through coerce by threats, induce them with payments or through attraction and co-option. Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. When you can get others to admire your ideals and to want what you want, you do not have to spend as much on sticks and carrots to move them in your direction. The U.S government spends four hundred times more on hard power than on soft power.

Soft power involves agenda setting, attraction and co-opt. Government policies at home and abroad are another potential source of soft power. For example, in the 1950s racial segregation at home undercut American soft power in Africa. Much of American soft power has been produced by Hollywood, Harvard, Microsoft, and Michael Jordan. It is true that firms, universities, foundations, churches, and other nongovernmental groups develop soft power of their own that may reinforce or be at odds with official foreign policy goals. Credibility is an important source of soft power.

The author categorizes power into three types. This includes military power, economic power and soft power. He further stresses that soft power is not a constant, but something that varies by time and space. Stating culture as a source of soft power, the author quotes Secretary of State Colin Power saying that ‘I can think of no more valuable asset to our country than the friendship of future world leaders who have been educated here.’ He further argues that hard power created the stand-off of military containment, but soft power eroded the Soviet system from within.

Regarding the soft power of NGOs, the author says that the information revolution has greatly enhanced it. NGOs and network organizations have soft-power resources and do not hesitate to use them. The early efforts of soft-power resources can be observed in France. In the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France promoted its culture. One example is the creation of Alliance Francaise in 1883 for the promotion of French language and literature. In Britain BBC was founded in 1922 which later broadcasted in all major European languages. As far as the United States is concerned VOA broadcasts in 53 languages to an estimated audience pf 91 million people (p. 104).

The author mentions three dimensions of public diplomacy. First is daily communication which involves explaining the context of domestic and foreign policy decisions. Second, is strategic communication in which a set of simple themes is developed, much like what occurs in a political or advertising campaign. Third is the development of lasting relationships with key individuals over many years through scholarships, exchanges, training, seminars, conferences, and access to media channels.

The author believes that the United States cannot meet the new threat identified in the national security strategy without the cooperation of other countries. He creates a need for learning how to better combine hard and soft power to meet new challenges. He wants the budget of public diplomacy to be doubled. In the concluding paragraph of the last chapter the author stresses that ‘America’s success will depend upon our developing a deeper understanding of the role of soft power and developing a better balance of hard and soft power in our foreign policy. That will be smart power. We have done it before; we can do it again.’

Ney emphasizes that soft power will help America deal with critical global issues that require multilateral cooperation.

 

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Book Review: One-Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse

 

In 1940s there were two tendencies within the history of Critical Theory. First, the philosophical-cultural analysis of the trends of Western civilization developed by Horkheimer and Adorno in Dialectic of Enlightenment. Second, the more practical-political development of Critical Theory as a theory of social change proposed by Marcuse and Neumann. For them, Critical Theory would be developed as a theory of social change that would connect philosophy, social theory, and radical politics- precisely the project of 1930s Critical Theory that Horkheimer and Adorno were abandoning in the early 1940s in their turn toward philosophical and cultural criticism divorced from social theory and radical politics.  Horkheimer and Adorno had neglected the theory of social change. It is exactly what Marcuse and Neumann were focusing on.

One-Dimensional Man was first published in 1964. It critiques the new modes of domination and social control. As capitalism and technology developed, advanced industrial society demanded increasing accommodation to the economic and social apparatus and submission to increasing domination and administration. Marcuse writes that independence of thought, autonomy, and the right to political opposition are being deprived of their basic critical function in a society. According to him, political power asserts itself through its power over the machine process and over the technical organization of the apparatus.

He distinguishes between true and false needs.  According to him, the need to relax, to have fun, to behave and consume in accordance with the advertisements, to love and hate what others love and hate, belong to this category of false needs. The distinguishing feature of advanced industrial society is its effective suffocation of those needs which demand liberation- liberation also from that which is tolerable and rewarding and comfortable- while it sustains and absolves the destructive power and repressive function of the affluent society.

The means of mass transportation and communication, the commodities of lodging, food, and clothing, the irresistible output of the entertainment and information industry carry with them prescribed attitudes and habits, certain intellectual and emotional reactions which bind the consumers more or less pleasantly to the producers and, through the latter, to the whole. The products indoctrinate and manipulate. They promote a false consciousness. The indoctrination becomes a way of life. Thus, emerges a pattern of one-dimensional thought and behavior.

Technology rationality reveals its political character as it becomes the great vehicle of better domination, creating a truly totalitarian universe in which society and nature, mind and body are kept in a state of permanent mobilization for the defense of this universe (p.20).  

Just as people know or feel that advertisements and political platforms must not be necessarily true or right, and yet hear and read them and even let themselves be guided by them, so they accept the traditional values and make them part of their mental equipment. Domination has its own aesthetics, and democratic domination has its democratic aesthetics. It is good that almost everyone can now have the fine arts at his fingertips, by just turning a knob on his set, or by just stepping into his drugstore. In this diffusion, however, they become cogs in a culture-machine which remakes their content.

The rulers of the world are losing their metaphysical features. Their appearance on television, at press conferences, in parliament, and at public hearings is hardly suitable for drama beyond that of the advertisement, while the consequences of their actions surpass the scope of the drama (p.74). Free election of masters does not abolish the masters of the slaves (p.10).

The established societies themselves are changing, or have already changed the basic institutions in the direction of increased planning. In Marcuse’s view the power of reason and freedom are declining in the late industrial society. With the increasing concentration and effectiveness of economic, political, and cultural controls, the opposition in all these fields has been pacified, coordinated, or liquidated. One-dimensional man means conforming to existing thought and behavior and lacking a critical dimension and a dimension of potentialities that transcend the existing society. ‘’One-dimensional man’’ has lost, or is losing, individuality, freedom, and the ability to dissent and to control one’s own destiny.

Marcuse was one of the first theorists to analyze consumer society through analyzing how consumerism, advertising, mass culture, and ideology integrate individuals into and stabilize the capitalist system. One-dimensional man does not know it’s true needs because its needs are not its own- they are administered, superimposed, and heteronomous; it is not able to resist domination, nor to act autonomously, for it identifies with public behavior and imitates an submits to the powers that be. Lacking the power of authentic self-activity, one dimensional man submits to increasingly total domination (xxviii).

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Book Review: Bhopal Connections Vignettes of Royal Rule by Shaharyar Muhammed Khan

 

Khan, the grandson of the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal writes about the dramatic events, characters, scandals, social practices, culture and history of Bhopal. Specific attention has been given to the four successive women rulers of Bhopal. Some of the social customs are shown through the lens of foreigners including Badcock, and Marjorie Memsahib. The first part of the book covers the history of Bhopal and the second part covers the contemporary anecdotes.

The Bhopal state was founded by Dost Muhammad Khan, an Orakzai Pashtun soldier in the Mughal army. As a result of the Anglo-Bhopal treaty Bhopal became a state in 1818. Bhopal was ruled by four begums from 1819 to 1926. Bhopal had a French connection. Before Nadir Shah attacked India in 1739, the French people had moved their estate. At Shergarh, the Bourbons built a housing colony church, school and a small fortress. They mainly married into the Indian Christian community. Still in Bhopal there is presence of the French people.

Bhopal was very loyal to the British. The mutiny of August 1857 had reached the princely state of Bhopal as it was one of the most loyal supporters of the British. The ruler at that time was Sikander Begum. According to the author, once she slapped the British Political Agent Lancelot Wilkinson in public, when he touched her ear-ring. The Rani of Jhansi challenged her (Sikander Begum) because she was a British loyalist. She accepted the challenge threating her by firearms. By December 1857 the Rani of Jhansi was killed in battle. Sikander Begum took control over the state. The British recognized the services of Sikander Begum.

The author of the book states the Sikander Begum went to the famous Jama Masjid in Delhi. This masjid was converted by the British as a stable for their horses. Sikander ordered the closure of the stable and gave a large sum for the renovation of the mosque. In Bhopal the ruling elite sought permission from the British regarding matters of marriage.

In 1911, Sultan Jahan Begum, the fourth Begum of Bhopal embarked on a journey to Europe. She attended the coronation of King George V. She also visited Paris and the embarked in a train towards Istanbul. She was disappointed to see that women were wearing high heels and frocks. The Turk Sultan wanted to confer an award on her, but the British did not approve of this. The Begum was very disappointed.

The second half of the book covers interesting stories about Maimoona, the Prince of Wales’ Tiger Hunt, Badcock, Marjorie Memsahib, The Cricket Match and Maan Saab (the second Begum of Junagadh). The author of the book mentions Badcock as the royal butler who served for twenty-three years. He first served the Begum of Bhopal in 1925. The Begum was there to plead the succession of her surviving son, Hamidullah Khan.

In 1921 the Prince of Wales reached India. He visited Bhopal for hunting tigers. For the hunting guests, it was said that back then the tigers were drugged and hunted. The hunters remained unaware of this. In some cases, circus tigers were also used to please the guests.

The story of Mubarak who leaves for London to sell a necklace is very interesting (p.120). Mubarak meets a lady in London. She accompanies him to India. The stories of Nawab of Junagadh and his wife shows their opulent lifestyle and their treatment of subordinates. Once the Nawab ordered his minions to throw a young Pathan tennis coach to the hungry lions, as he developed a crush on the Nawab’s flirtatious daughter.

Maan Saab, the abandoned wife of the Nawab needed the company of men. She collected a few gigolos from the feudal gentry of Bhopal. When Bano, a maid of Maan Saab urinated in her bathroom, Maan Saab gave her a thorough beating. She was in a hurry so she ordered Allah Rakhi to teach her a lesson. She was so brutally tortured that she passed away. Maan Saab was arrested and served sixteen months in prison.

The author tries to recreate life and times of the rulers of Bhopal. Some of the interesting points in the book include the women rulers, loyalty to the British, French connections, tiger hunts and the meeting between the ruler of Bhopal and the Ottoman Sultan.

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Book Review: My Life's Journey: The Early Years (1966-1988) by Altaf Hussain

 

Originally this book was published in Urdu as Safa-e-Zindagi. It was based on lengthy interview of Altaf Hussain, better known as Altaf bhai. In the foreword of the book Matthew A. Cook says that the Urdu speaking population which migrated to Pakistan includes population form Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Bombay. He also says that most Mohajirs were not elites. They were artisans such as shoemakers, carpet weavers from Agra. Or metal workers from Moradabad and lock-makers from Aligarh.

He further says that most provincial refugee rehabilitation ministers were Sindhis rather than Mohajirs. The civil and police control was by the Punjabis and the Pakhtuns controlled the building and transportation sectors. Altaf Hussain writes about his childhood, mentioning the time when Ayub Khan won from Fatima Jinnah. Ayub’s son Gohar Ayub decided to celebrate his father’s victory in Karachi. On that very day Altaf and his mother were in rickshaw and were informed by the Rickshaw driver to get out of the vehicle as Pakhtuns were on the rampage.

Writing about his activism during student days, he mentions mobilizing students for B. Pharmacy admissions. They were initially denied admissions because by the time their result came out the admissions had closed. But finally, after constant struggle they succeeded in getting admissions.

The author says that Mohajir civil servants were sacked during Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Bhutto’s time. After his association with PNA he realized that the Mohajirs were considered third class citizens and no respect was shown for their lives. On 11 June 1978, the All-Pakistan Mohajir Students’ Organization (APMSO) was formed. It faced string resistance from Islami Jamiat-e-Taluba. Finances were a serious issue for the newly founded organization and Altaf donated the income he earned from tuitions. Altaf Hussain says: ‘I can never forget that 50 cc motorbike of mine which proved to be more faithful than many humans.’ Furthermore, he says that when he was building up the organization, he would often be hungry with other fellows. To satisfy their stomachs they would each have a samosa followed by several glasses of water.  

In 1984, Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM) was launched. It faced serious opposition. He was jailed three times. He was tortured and later the beatings resulted in kidney problems. Altaf Hussain says that he subordinated all his desires and interest to his mission MQM. He further states that his family had a very positive attitude that provided courage to him. Altaf stresses on the relation between class and politics. He says MQM is a friend of the poor, whether they are from Punjab, Sindh, NWFP or Baluchistan.

This autobiographical account covers the period from 1966 to 1988. This book provides a story of Altaf Hussian- how an individual rose to become Altaf bhai.

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Book Review: Iqbal by Francesco D'Adamo, Ann Leonori (Translator)

Iqbal is a fictional account about a person named Iqbal Masih who wanted to liberate bonded laborers in Pakistan. The narrator of this book is Fatima, a girl who was inspired by Iqbal’s courage and determination.

As a sign of resistance Iqbal cut his master’s carpet with a knife. His master Hussain Khan punishes him. There are also other children who were taken away from their families and enslaved by Hussain Khan. Once Iqbal tries to escape, but the local policemen brings him back to Khan, after taking bribe. For his rebellion he is severely punished by his master. After that incident he tries to escape again. This time he is successful. He contacts the Bonded Labor Liberation Front of Pakistan and helps in the liberation of other kids enslaved by Hussain Khan.

Iqbal had sown the seeds of hope in all the children. Sadly, he was murdered on Easter Sunday in 1995 in Muridke, a village near Lahore. This novel gives us an insight into Iqbal’s struggle. After reading this book, I wonder how many other Iqbals are still working and enslaved by the carpet mafia.

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Book Review: Books V. Cigarettes by George Orwell

 

This book was first published as an essay in 1940s. The author says that even if one buys books and periodicals, that does not cost more than the combined cost of smoking and drinking. Orwell shares his own experience of working at a secondhand book shop. He doubts whether ten percent of his customers at the bookshop are able to distinguish a good book from a bad one. Every month about a dozen books were stolen from the bookshop.

Orwell states that the job of a book reviewer includes praising trash, and majority of the books published are bad. Furthermore, he believes that the idea of intellectual liberty is under threat from two sides. First, is the theoretical enemy- the apologists of totalitarianism. Second, is the practical enemy- monopoly and bureaucracy. The weakening desire for liberty among the intellectuals themselves is the most serious symptom of all. Regarding imagination Orwell says: ‘...we know only that the imagination, like certain wild animals, will bot breed in captivity.’

The author says that in England the large numbers of well-trained and disciplined nurses are underrated. He also shares his own experience of living in St Cyprian boarding school in Sussex. He narrates how they were underfed, bullied and punished. With that they were also kept in unclean living spaces. He also shares stories of his poverty and how did he feel about it. In comparison with the underprivileged students the rich students were given preferential treatment.  

Ian Hy, Thackeray, Kipling and H.G Wells were Orwell’s favorite authors from boyhood. He also writes about the discussions between the different students who boasted their parents’ wealth. He says that: ‘In a world where the prime necessities were money, titled relatives, athleticism, tailor-made clothes, neatly brushed hair, a charming smile, I was no good.’ He feels dejected.

In this work, George Orwell touches on the themes of money, reading, bookshops, freedom of press, boarding life and patriotism. Anyone with an interest of reading about the early twentieth century England, should definitely read this.

 

 

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Book Review: Friedrich Nietzsche Why I am so Wise translated by R.J. Hollingdale

 

Nietzsche lived from 1844 to 1900. This book has been compiled by including excerpts from Ecce Homo and Twilight of the Idols. The author says that the overthrowing idols is his business. According to him, philosophy is a voluntary living in ice and high mountains- a seeking after everything strange and questionable in existence, all that has hitherto been excommunicated by morality.

Nietzsche says: ‘It also seems to me that the rudest word, the rudest letter is more good-natured, more honest than silence.’ He believes that he has a right to wage a war on Christianity because he has never experienced anything disagreeable from them. Furthermore, he states that he does not speak to the masses because he fears that he would be pronounced holy. He does not want to be a saint. He thinks there is nothing more mendacious than saints.

Moreover, in the book the author considers himself as an immoralist. This immoralist involves two denials. First, denial of the man who has been counted as the highest and second, denial of Christian morality. In Maxims and Arrows, the author clearly states his mistrust of all systematizers and says that ‘the will to a system is a lack of integrity.’

Nietzsche states that he knows his fate. He writes: ‘One day there will be associated with my name the recollection of something frightful- of crisis like no other before on earth, of the profoundest collision of conscience, of a decision evoked against everything that until the had been believed in, demanded, sanctified. I am not a man, I am dynamite.’

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Book Review: The Closed Valley: With Fierce Friends in the Pakistani Himalayas by Jurgen Wasim Frembgen

 

Jurgen Wasim Frembgen is an anthropologist, who is one of the first to venture into the Harban valley. This book is an outcome of the authors several stays in the valley between 1989 to 1997. Frembgen explores the life of the mountain people in Kohistan region of Pakistan. The Indus Kohistan district was created in 1976.

In the first chapter he mentions that the Indus River is locally known as Aba Sin (Father of Rivers). In ancient Indian Sanskrit it is called Sindhu from which the terms Indus and India were derived. The author also mentions about the flora and fauna of the area. He writes about the presence of rhesus monkeys in the area. The forest trees include spruce, pine, cedars, juniper and holm oak trees.

Frembgen states that the reason why he was so interested in the people of Kohistan was the romantic ideal of freedom from any kind of authority. Before his visit he read the novel, The Pakistani Bride, which was based on a true story in Kohistan. Frembgen writes about how he went to Chilas and met the district court judge Mahmud Ghaznawi who had origins from Kohistan. He wrote a recommendation letter for Frembgen so that he could have an easy passage to Kohistan. Frembgen was warned by Bilal (the postmaster’s son) that the women in Harban were especially beautiful and a wrong glance could be fatal.

The local culture in Harban is that one of the members from the host family massages the guest. This is a kind gesture for a tired traveler who has walked great distance. There are four caste-like groups which consist of Shin, Yeshkun, Kamin and Dom. In Harban, no Kamin men or women are allowed to take part in funeral rites. One perspective noted by the author is that the Yeshkun and the Kamin were already living in Harban before the arrival of the Shin people.

Frembgen states that in the past it was important to be a warrior, so handling of a gun was important. Today diplomacy and Islamic religiosity were crucial for success in life. People in Harban, heavily depend on logging and because of this deforestation has accelerated. Satellite images show that there are regions in Southern Indus Kohistan which have lost one third of their tree population in just one decade.

The author stays at Sher Ghazi’s (local Jashtero in Harban) house as a guest.  He discovers that the house does not have a bathroom and the whole village uses the slopes to defecate. The area has a lot of Tablighi influence. The old meeting place for women in the village was abandoned in 1960s, because the Tablighi Movement disapproved it. They drove musicians out of the valley and also banned dancing.

The story of the carpenter named Qalanadar Shah, from Hindi village in Hunza is a very interesting one. Shah fled from his house because he had arguments with his parents and works as a carpenter in Harban. Another interesting story is of the Majzub Baba who lives in Chilas. Frembgen also sees fortified towers. The height of the towers demonstrates a family’s political power. They serve as protection from attacks. The author says that ‘In many cases these conflicts go back to affairs of jealousy and broken marriage promises, but also to their matters of honor and disagreements over land ownership’. He further stresses that accusations of forbidden love affairs are rampant.

The author admits that the ethnographic work in the field never unbiased. He also makes it clear that he could not complete his original aim- which was to write a monograph of field anthropology of Harban culture.

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