Rebels with a Cause: Famous Dissenters and Why They Are Not Being Heard

by T.T. Ram Mohan

Democratic societies take pride in the freedom of expression. Indeed, the right to dissent and tolerance of diverse viewpoints distinguish a democratic society from a dictatorship. In his new book, Prof. T.T. Ram Mohan profiles well-known dissenters Arundhati Roy, Oliver Stone, Kancha Ilaiah, David Irving, Yanis Varoufakis, U.G. Krishnamurti and John Pilger to illustrate how, in practice, dissent tends to be severely circumscribed. It is only the celebrity status of these dissenters that has kept them from being actively harmed. Through an exploration of the lives and ideas of these personalities, the author argues that, while one may not agree with their positions on various issues, their views merit discussion and debate. Engaging with them and responding to their analyses holds out the prospect for substantive reform within the system. Yet, the dominant elites prefer not to do so, instead marginalizing and even ostracizing dissenters precisely because they find change of any sort threatening.
Rebels with a Cause is a book that asks hard questions to challenge the way we view, and live in, the world-an important book for anyone who refuses to accept the status quo.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published August 31, 2020

Reviews

[Keshav · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a student of Prof TT Ram Mohan (or TTR, as nearly everyone called him) a few years ago, and was delighted to find a new book by him. This edition collates breezy biographies of some oddball figures, and TTR comments on their contribution to the mainstream narrative, and how/why they are occasionally sidelined. TTR's criticism varies - while he condemns some of the less economically nuanced arguments of Arundhati Roy or fanciful revisionism of Kanchan Ilaiah, he summarizes Oliver Stone's work on US presidents, or UG Krishnamurthy's on philosophy with little more than cursory comments. In general TTR's touch is expository and doesn't classify as a critical review. This makes sense, as the rebels in question often have dramatically bewildering claims, several preposterous and all polarising - evident from them being shunned by popular discourse/mainstream media - and hence doing justice to a nuanced and detailed review would make this book out of reach of all but the most devoted subject matter experts.

However, what TTR could've done is to link the role of the rebel in society and organisations, maybe linked it to the psychology of rebelling and what makes a rebel tick. There is some popular literature on this (Matthew Syed's Rebel Ideas comes to mind). Also, the collection of figures that has attracted TTR here seems personal - 3 of these are Indians who, IMO, might not appeal much to a global audience, while the chapter on David Irving is probably not as relevant (details on WW2) to a modern reader as is Yanis Varafoukis' (speaking on the sustainability of the Euro and Greek debt crisis).

TTR has included "... and why they are not being heard", so he finds it important to comment on (and dismiss) the more fanciful ideas of these rebels, and while he does point out the more sound and important ideas - often championed/spearheaded by them, the title of the book makes it evident where his sympathies lie. Elsewhere he has labelled some other reservations against the US/Western Europe military-industrial complex/landed bureaucracy as typical far-left loony bin behaviour, but refrained from commenting too strongly against them when the evidence stacks up - he prefers to hide under the purdah of the sentences used by the rebels himself. Hence, one is sometimes left unsure of the overall message.

tl;dr: watch the rebels, but not too closely and from the safety of your grandpa's lap (Prof TTR looks ridiculously handsome with his salt and pepper George Clooney hair)

[Nevin Padiyath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delve into the lives of a few who challenged the establishment- from caste, class, film industry, history, spirituality, etc.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a collection of hagiographies about some Nomenklatura boys and their rich kid tantrums.