Eqbal Ahmad Now Available!

Now available at independent bookstores!

Eqbal Ahmad: Confronting Empire

Interviews with David Barsamian
Forward by Edward W. Said

For the first time ever, Eqbal Ahmad’s most provocative ideas are available
in book form. In these intimate and wide-ranging discussions with David
Barsamian, Ahmad tells us about nationalism, identity, and resistance, with
reflection on his role in liberation struggles around the world. 

Eqbal Ahmad was a peace activist and scholar born in India. In 1947, he
left with his brothers for the newly created state of Pakistan. He was
active in the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement in
the United States. Ahmad passed away in the spring of 1999.

“[Eqbal Ahmad] was a shining example of what a true internationalist should
be.… Eqbal was at home in the history of all the world’s great
civilizations. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of states past and present,
and he knew that states had a rightful role to play. But he also knew that
states existed to serve peoplenot the other way aroundand he had little to
do with governments, except as a thorn in their side. To friends,
colleagues, and students, however, he gave unstintingly of himself and his
time.… His example and his memory will inspire many to carry on his work.”
--Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations

“A very dedicated and honorable activist, Eqbal was right in the middle of
everything.… He was a student of revolution and imperialism and a very good
one.”
--Noam Chomsky, MIT

“Fighting words, wise words, from one of the most powerful activist
intellectuals of our time.”
--Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University

“For the thousands of people who have missed Eqbal Ahmad in the year since
he died, this book comes like rain during a drought. In these interviews,
we hear Ahmad’s compelling voice again, musing over the Indian
subcontinent, Algeria, the United States, and Palestine; recounting his
encounters with Mahatma Gandhi and Yasir Arafat; fulminating against the
West’s pusillanimity over Bosnia and Kosovo; laying out his solution to the
Kashmir conflict; and discussing his plans to found a university in
Pakistan named after the Arab historian and sociologist Ibn Khaldun. Such
is the range and breadth of David Barsamian’s interviews, my only regret is
that the book is not twice its length.”
--Radha Kumar, Council on Foreign Relations

“Eqbal was a teacher, a poet-analyst, a mentor to far more of us than he
knew.” 
--Phyllis Bennis, Insitute for Policy Studies

“These interviews provide a wonderfully focused, yet wide-ranging
compendium of Eqbal Ahmad’s worldview.… Ahmad was a courageous thinker and
activist, an inspirational presence wherever progressives gathered, and a
remarkable human being filled with love, humor, and generosity of spirit.”
--Richard Falk, Princeton University

“Hearing Eqbal Ahmad’s voice again, in these eloquent pages, renews one’s
sense of loss. The people of Bosnia and Kosovo, in particular, have been
deprived of an ally when they need one most. But perhaps the voice can
still unblock a mind or two, in this dull era of the parochial Left.”
--Christopher Hitchens, The Nation

"With the voice of truth and compassion, Eqbal Ahmad weaves a tapestry,
from Pakistan to Palestine, Indonesia to Iraq, Europe to South America, of
how the United States has abused its position of power and dominance in the
world since World War Two. Ever-challenging fanaticism and bigotry,
particularly the demonization of Islam, Ahmad demands respect and openness
for all cultures, peoples, and religions.… Confronting Empire is a
must-read for anyone concerned with issues of multiculturalism, liberty,
justice, and humaneness."
--Zaineb Istrabadi, Columbia University

“We have here the ideal combination for a dazzling intellectual encounter
thoughtful questions by a superb interviewer, David Barsamianand brilliant
responses by the extraordinary Eqbal Ahmad, recorded just before Ahmad’s
death.”
--Howard Zinn, Boston University

“Eqbal Ahmad was a multitude of menscholar, activist, political analyst,
teacher, diplomat, visionarybut, above all, a foot-soldier in the army of
peoples everywhere.”
--Race and Class

To order by phone, call 1-800-533-8478. 

Or visit us on the web: www.southendpress.org 
Organizational discounts of 40 to 55 percent available.
Fax desk, exam, and review requests on letterhead to 617-547-1333.
To set up an event with David Barsamian, please call 617-547-4002 or e-mail
southend@igc.org.
To find out about upcoming events with David Barsamian, visit
www.southendpress.org/books/speaking.shtml.





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