LeftyProf

I am a professor of English literature, and have been an activist and a socialist in the U.S. for over a decade. While I have written often enough for various leftist online and print publications, such as Socialist Worker, Znet, ISR, and MRZine, I have long wanted to create a space where I could think out loud about desi politics and culture.

The desire to create this space stems from my dismay at the state of the desi Left, particularly the Indian communist parties. At a time when the dual forces of globalization and communalism are literally tearing South Asia apart, the Left has revealed itself to be utterly incapable of putting forward an alternative vision of society. Having grown up blindly accepting the dictates of Stalinist (and Maoist) orthodoxies, the communists of India (and far too many “independent” progressives) have come to identify electoral gains and communist control of the capitalist state with progress. This hogwash is what underpins many of the authoritarian policies of the Left Front government in West Bengal, for instance.

Most of the posts here will be of a political nature, but after looking at some other blogs out there, I am considering putting up occasional personal ruminations too.

Who knows, there might even be some images uploaded here at some point. All of it will depend, of course, on whether I can find the time to do it. (Images like the lovely one at the top of this page–yes, the one that you were going to right-click and download. That’s a picture of rocks at the base of a gorgeous sea-grape tree overlooking the ocean on the east coast of Barbados. Picture taken by yours truly.)

Please feel free to look around, and whether you like what you read or absolutely hate it, write me a note!

You can now also email me at: LeftyProf (at) gmail (dot) com.

(And yes, I might soon start a literature-oriented blog!)