Freedom Next Time
The wider perspective of world history, and the recycled lies it can reveal, is scarcely visible in the mainstream media. John Pilger is a rare beacon. And the longer he keeps writing the more he can draw on his rich personal experience, which reaches back to Vietnam and beyond.
He looks ‘the true consequences of modern imperial power’ in the eye. But his greatest gift is for taking the reader into the extraordinary lives of ordinary people, conveying in this book once again the feel and look of places as distinctive as South Africa, India, Palestine and Afghanistan. Among contemporary writers, perhaps only he could weave from the story of the Chagos Islanders a compelling and deeply lamentable allegory of our times.
It is this quality, even more than the meticulously scoured archives or excruciating official interviews – a brief encounter with the toupee of US diplomat John Bolton is a classic of its kind – that keeps John Pilger’s voice fresh and free from the pitfalls of self-referential reporting. The title of this book applies most obviously to South Africa, where the defeat of apartheid has exposed the neoliberal orthodoxy behind it, which remains intact.
But perhaps the most devastating account comes from Afghanistan, where the President lives with 40 US military bodyguards, the warlords run a revitalized opium trade, venal plans for an oil pipeline are on the table again and the much-trumpeted ‘liberation’ of women is invisible. He never leaves room for serious doubt, however, that there will indeed be a next time – and, with any luck, he will be there to report it.
- Product information
- By John Pilger
- Publisher
- Bantam Press
- Product number
- ISBN 0593055535
- Star rating
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
New Internationalist (NI) workers' co-operative exists to report on issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and the powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice.
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