Democratic societies take pride in offering citizens freedom of expression. Indeed, the right to dissent and tolerance of diverse viewpoints are said to distinguish a democratic society from a dictatorship. In his new book, Prof Ram Mohan profiles famous dissenters like Arundhati Roy, Oliver Stone, Kancha Ilaiah, David Irving, Yanis Varoufakis, UG Krishnamurti, and John Pilger to illustrate how, in practice, freedom of expression and dissent tend to be severely circumscribed.
One may not agree with the dissenters’ positions on various issues. through the lives and ideas of these dissenters, the author argues that one may not agree with the dissenters’ positions on certain issues, but their views merit discussion and debate. Engaging with the dissenters and responding to their analyses holds out the prospect for substantive reform within the system. Yet, the dominant elites prefer not to do so. Their instinct everywhere is to marginalise and even ostracise the dissenters precisely because they find change of any sort threatening. Rebels with a Cause is book that challenges the way we view, and live in, the world and asks hard questions—an important book for anyone who refuses to follow the status quo.
About the Author
Prof Ram Mohan studied at IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta and obtained his doctorate from Stern School of Business, New York University. He worked extensively in consultancy and in the financial sector before entering academics. He has been Divisional Manager with Tata Economic Consultancy Services, Head of Strategy at Standard Chartered Bank and Vice President with the American investment bank of Bear Stearns Asia Ltd (Hong Kong). Prof Ram Mohan has been a financial journalist at various points in time. He was New York Correspondent for The Economic Times, Economics Correspondent for India Abroad (New York), and Contributing Editor (South Asia) with the Financial Times of London’s International Reports. For over 15 years, he wrote a fortnightly column for The Economic Times. His current research interests include banking sector reforms, rivatization and corporate governance. He has been active in the area of executive training as well. He has presented papers at conferences in India and abroad and published several papers in leading journals. He has authored five books: The Big Picture: Reflections on our economic times (Viva Books); Privatisation in India: Challenging economic orthodoxy(Routledge, UK; Regulation of financial intermediaries in emerging markets (Sage Publications; co-edited with Rupa Rege Nitsure); Brick by Red Brick: Ravi Matthai and the Making of IIM Ahmedabad (Rupa); and Before and After the Global Crisis (Gyan publications).
