The Architecture of Modern Empire
$23
A revelatory and wide-ranging series of interviews with award-winning writer Arundhati Roy, touching on US empire, Indian nationalism, a writer’s work, and more.
As a novelist, Arundhati Roy is known for her lush language and intricate structure. As a political essayist, her prose is searching and fierce. All of these qualities shine through in the interviews collected here by David Barsamian.
This newly reissued and expanded edition, featuring interviews from 2001 to 2022 and a moving foreword by Naomi Klein, explores Roy’s evolving political thought and commitments across the tumultuous twenty-first century.
The Architecture of Modern Empire is a searing reckoning with the mechanics of power, in all its forms, and the role of imagination and creative expression in envisioning a radically different world.
“Again and again, Arundhati has used her gifts as a novelist and trained architect to help us visualize the invisible architecture of modern empire. Crucially, she has helped us to understand how powerful interests that seem to be in conflict—the nation-state vs. corporate globalization; religious fundamentalism vs. U.S. capitalism—actually serve to strengthen and protect each other, and join forces to lay waste to democracy.” —Naomi Klein, from the Foreword
Author
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is a world-renowned, award-winning writer and global justice activist. Tariq Ali says of her, “She is both loathed and feared by the Indian elite. Loathed because she speaks her mind. Feared because her voice reaches the world outside India and damages the myths perpetrated by New Delhi.” She is the recipient of the prestigious European Essay Prize for lifetime achievement, and the PEN Pinter Prize for telling “urgent stories of injustice with wit and beauty.” Among her many books are The God of Small Things, Capitalism: A Ghost Story, My Seditious Heart, and Azadi. Her latest books are The Architecture of Modern Empire and Mother Mary Comes to Me.
From Bharat in CO –
I enjoyed reading your book with Arundhati Roy. It is very timely, especially the parallels b/w the early 00’s and now, in India and the United States. I loved reading Arundhati’s answers. How beautifully she is able to make connections and explain complicated things using simple language. I learned a lot and found myself smiling while reading one of her many pointed and clever one-liners! Thank you for recording and compiling these interviews.
From a listener in Wisconsin –
The book couldn’t be more timely.
From a listener in the SF Bay Area –
A compelling collection of interviews. Barsamian’s perceptive questions and Roy’s penetrating responses make this book a must-read. She provides context to the complex issues facing South Asia.