The next time the CPI(M) Politburo meets, it should give a vote of thanks to Arundhati Roy. Even as Left politics passes into utter irrelevance, the Left’s favourite cause—nuclear disarmament, capitalist expansion and superpower imperialism—have become fashion statements, courtesy Roy’s pen.
Roy’s foray into social science, after her previous career in acting and writing film scripts, is an extremely important phenomenon. It’s akin to Ritu Beri singing the Internationale. It’s like Naomi Campbell reciting the Communist Manifesto. The market is supposed to shatter caste-based privileges. And here is a fitting example of how powerful market forces, with Roy at their helm, have smashed the brahminical exclusivism of the Left’s intellectual citadels. It’s show biz time at the National Archives!
No wonder academics and other serious folks are wringing their hands in confusion. Their exclusive space has been usurped by sheer glamour. Academic discourses have been dumbed down for mass...
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