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A review by margaret45678
Confronting Empire by Eqbal Ahmad, David Barsamian
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I learned of Eqbal Ahmad from Khalidi's The Hundred Years' War on Palestine. I would certainly like to read more of his work - I'm not sure these seemingly off-the-cuff interviews fully represent his thought. However, they were very interesting and quite inspiring, though I worry that the world has changed too much for Ahmad's flexible, creative, nonviolent positions to be widely accepted or adopted.
I can see why his position on western/US intervention has been criticized as inconsistent, though I think I might be biased by interpreting his comments through a 2020s lens. At one point, he criticizes US feminists for not drawing attention to atrocities perpetrated against Bosnian women. I feel like in more recent years we have seen western feminism (and LGBTQ+ rights) mobilized as hawkish, Islamaphobic talking points (pink/purple/rainbow-washing, homonationalism), so I'm inclined to be sort of cynical about how this would have played out, but of course the perspective of someone in the late '90s would not be the same.
I can see why his position on western/US intervention has been criticized as inconsistent, though I think I might be biased by interpreting his comments through a 2020s lens. At one point, he criticizes US feminists for not drawing attention to atrocities perpetrated against Bosnian women. I feel like in more recent years we have seen western feminism (and LGBTQ+ rights) mobilized as hawkish, Islamaphobic talking points (pink/purple/rainbow-washing, homonationalism), so I'm inclined to be sort of cynical about how this would have played out, but of course the perspective of someone in the late '90s would not be the same.