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An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire
Just in time for the elections, Arundhati Roy offers us this lucid briefing on what the Bush administration really means when it talks about “compassionate conservativism” and “the war on terror.” Roy has characteristic fun in these essays, skewering the hypocrisy of the more-democratic-than-thou clan. But above all, she aims to remind us that we hold the essence of power ...more
Paperback, 200 pages
Published
September 1st 2004
by South End Press
(first published January 1st 2003)
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An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire (Paperback)
by Arundhati Roy
I picked up this book while in India last fall. The hotel I was staying at in Jaipur was selling it in their gift shop. I started it while still traveling but didn't finish it until the beginning of the new year. Consisting of a collection of essays and lectures given on the topic of empire, verbalization, trade and resistance within the context of the developing world (especially focusing on India) it is filled wi...more
by Arundhati Roy
I picked up this book while in India last fall. The hotel I was staying at in Jaipur was selling it in their gift shop. I started it while still traveling but didn't finish it until the beginning of the new year. Consisting of a collection of essays and lectures given on the topic of empire, verbalization, trade and resistance within the context of the developing world (especially focusing on India) it is filled wi...more
arundhati roy's incisive analysis of globalization, trade policy, and the state of the state in india is bold, brave, and unique. i read this book when i was in india, and it gave me invaluable and hard-to-find information on how poor people continue to struggle for rights, government accountability, and even basic services in 'the world's fastest-growing economy'. an inspiring read that reminds you another world IS possible.
Arundhati Roy is one of the most powerful, thoughtful spokespeople for those all over the world who are bearing the crushing costs of imperialism in the form of control of resources by corporations that are not accountable to the people and that have squandered resources, displaced millions of farmers and laborers, and irreparably destroyed rivers, soil, and local cultures. She is eloquent, convincing, succinct, and full of heart. Along with Vandana Shiva, she raises awareness of the plight of...more
Bird Brian
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anybody who would like to save future generations from slavery
Shelves:
new-world-order
Arundhati Roy is a social justice advocate with solid non-violence credentials and a lucid view of globalist corporatism. When Ordinary Persons' Guide to Empire (OPGE) came out, it was received as an anti-Bush/Cheney polemic. Given the September 2004 release date (right before Bush's bid for reelection) that may be understandable, but it is erroneous. Although much of OPGE does relate to the conflict in Iraq and Bush's "war on terror", trying to force this book into the framework of pa...more
I may be the only person who didn't adore The God of Small Things. But everything I found overworked about Roy's fictional prose works wonderfully in this collection of her activist speeches - her quirky metaphors serve the clarifying anger with which she addresses a wide range of political topics instead of undermining it, and her command of cadence maintains the flow of a speech as her evidence accummulates. I can even forgive the Capitalization of Important Phrases. Her indictment of the Iraq...more
I haven't actually read this book. I started the book; I was looking forward to it. The author wrote The God of Small Things and won a Booker prize. I had to put the book down when it made the following analysis on page 81 on how to resist "empire" meaning - I guess the U.S.
It said,"The good news is we're not doing too badly. There have been major victories. Here in Latin America you have had so many...In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez is holding on despite the U.S. G...more
It said,"The good news is we're not doing too badly. There have been major victories. Here in Latin America you have had so many...In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez is holding on despite the U.S. G...more
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Roy's a great thinker, writer and a selfless activist.
This book is a great collection of her speeches and a portrait of her perspective on 9/11, the Iraq war and the plight of India's powerless peasants and minorities.
A good read but since most of the content is from within specific period of time, readers' intrigue is likely to diminish as parts of some speeches reappear in many chapters.
Recommended for anyone interested in world affairs as well as affairs specific to South A...more
This book is a great collection of her speeches and a portrait of her perspective on 9/11, the Iraq war and the plight of India's powerless peasants and minorities.
A good read but since most of the content is from within specific period of time, readers' intrigue is likely to diminish as parts of some speeches reappear in many chapters.
Recommended for anyone interested in world affairs as well as affairs specific to South A...more
I love the passion and lyrical intensity of anything Arundhati Roy writes. This book is an important expose of the corruption and horrific nature of the Indian state (and all modern states) that will kill and destroy people, villages, regions in the thirst for development and profit. It's a hard book to read though as it is in some ways a long rant. I skimmed much of this book and was thankful to be able to take in some of the horror, outrage and rage.
A powerful collection of speeches by Arundhati Roy! The only downfall is it's repetition of key points. Even so, each chapter is beautiful, hard-hitting, inspiring and full of anti-imperialist, action-oriented information.
The words of Arundhati Roy in An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire removes the demobilizing fog from the glass and demystifies corporate media, neoliberalism and war politics and puts modern day empire in a global and historical context.
Full of sarcasm...more
The words of Arundhati Roy in An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire removes the demobilizing fog from the glass and demystifies corporate media, neoliberalism and war politics and puts modern day empire in a global and historical context.
Full of sarcasm...more
Kati
added it
I agree that the American government during the Bush administration was and did everything she accuses it of. And I appreciate that she iterates and reiterates that a nation's people and its government must not be confused as one and the same. Not particularly helpful in the providing alternatives or solutions department, however. Curious as to what she thinks now.
I am an Arundhati Roy fan and require at least one of her books in each of my classes. I share her passions as well as her explanations for why things are the way they are in the world of politics in the global south. Plus she is gorgeous! And she speaks with power and conviction. I am bit of a groupie.
arundhati roy rocks out. let's be honest. this book is a collected of mostly speeches she has made. and while she tackles subjects that aren't particularly original, she attacks them in such a way that i was like yeah. yeah! that's right. i guess i mean, she writes in this very empowering way. i've been having little attention span with real extensive pieces lately, but i really got into these.
some random quotations i particularly liked:
"stokley carmicheal described...more
some random quotations i particularly liked:
"stokley carmicheal described...more
I remember laughing bitter laughs when I read this. I should get it out of the library again so I can write a proper review. She's an amazing writer - and no, I haven't read her Booker Prize winning novel yet. :( Naughty me. One day though.
Informative, challenging, and frightening work by an incredible writer. It's not fair that someone can write/speak so eloquently and also write incredible fiction (see The God of Small Things). This woman is amazing.
The book is a collection of speeches made to different audiences, so some of the points she makes are repeated in multiple chapters. I didn't find that too bothersome (noticed other reviewers did). It's actually a great book to read a chapter at a time, leaving time...more
The book is a collection of speeches made to different audiences, so some of the points she makes are repeated in multiple chapters. I didn't find that too bothersome (noticed other reviewers did). It's actually a great book to read a chapter at a time, leaving time...more
Passionate analysis of corporate-led neoliberal globalization. "Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy" and "Do Turkeys Enjoy Thanksgiving?" are particularly good narratives about the spectacles of "democracy," "liberalism" and "development," especially the use of token people ("turkeys") as veils for exclusion and exploitation. Some of the rhetoric is too over the top, but the book is generally very valuable.
Wow...this book was amazing...And depressing to read. It gives you some facts about the American Empire that we live in and it is not pretty...Intelligent and enlightening.
on of the only books I have found that explain modern colonial law. Cote DiVior and Ghana cannot sell chocolate at a profit because the tarrifs against them are so high. So they must sell cocoa beans to france belgium and the US, who grind the beans with sugar and sell it as chocolate. There are no tarrifs against french Chocolate. Ony against ghana, and Cote Divoir Chocolate. And slavery exist in these places on chocolate farms.If they could make a real profit by selling chocolate they could af...more
Written in her rich rose, this book engages with some of the biggest injustices of our time. It is maddening, moving and marvellous.
This book is Noam Chomsky except funny and interesting instead of horribly dry. Highly recommended.
"Modern democracies have been around for long enough for neo-liberal capitalists to learn how to subvert them. They have mastered the technique of infiltrating the instruments of democracy-- the 'independent' judiciary, the 'free' press, the parliment-- and molding them to their purpose. The project of corporate globalization has cracked the code. Free elections, a free press, and ...more
"Modern democracies have been around for long enough for neo-liberal capitalists to learn how to subvert them. They have mastered the technique of infiltrating the instruments of democracy-- the 'independent' judiciary, the 'free' press, the parliment-- and molding them to their purpose. The project of corporate globalization has cracked the code. Free elections, a free press, and ...more
Made some good points in the beginning and then became rambly and whiny. She needed to introduce some new points.
I so thought this would be better and more inspiring than it was. It was filled with stereotypes of Americans and Westerners (apparently none of us have read Chomsky or have a conscience). For such a poetic, insightful and nuanced writer to write essays and speeches of such limited subtlety was a huge disappointment. I know she has done great work as a humanist and activist, but this book felt like a waste of time to me as a reader.
Mandatory reading for the activist, especially if working in India.
A collection of her political writings. She is inspiring.
Shaer Hassan
added it
It gave me a sense that nothing is what it seems!
Great book...poetically written...
good lucid human essays
for her, every happening is wrong...
You will be outraged while reading this one.
Too liberal; too preachy.
Bush...tertikam.
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Arundhati Roy is an Indian writer who writes in English and an activist who focuses on issues related to social justice and economic inequality. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays.
For her work as an activist she received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundatio...more
More about Arundhati Roy...
For her work as an activist she received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundatio...more
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