In 'Age of Anger', Pankaj Mishra examines the rise of nationalist, isolationist, and chauvinist movements by tracing the historical impact of Enlightenment values such as individualism and capitalism. He argues that these movements are a response to the unfulfilled promises of modernity, leading to widespread anger and resentment. The book offers a profound critique of modern liberalism and its global implications.
The Years of Extermination is the second volume of Saul Friedländer's history of Nazi Germany and the Jews. It provides a comprehensive narrative of the Holocaust, based on extensive documentation and personal testimonies. The book explores the systematic genocide of six million European Jews, highlighting the roles of local authorities, population passivity, and the victims' experiences. Friedländer's work is praised for its vivid portrayal and historical rigor.
The Holocaust is the quintessential example of human evil for people in the West. In the rest of the world, especially in the Global South, the atrocity of the Holocaust — genocide — has had a closer proximity both in time and place. Colonialism in Africa, destructive wars in Asia and most recently, genocide in the Middle East, have shaped the lives of billions of people.
On this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra joins host Chris Hedges to discuss his latest book, “The World After Gaza.” Mishra argues that the shifting power dynamics in the world means the Global South’s narrative on atrocity can no longer be ignored and the genocide in Gaza is the current crux of the issue.
“Large parts of the world have a cultural memory, historical memory of the atrocities that were inflicted on those parts of the world by Western powers. And that has actually gone to the making of their collective identity. And that is how they see themselves in the world,” Mishra tells Hedges.
Mishra explains that in the case of Israel, Zionist leaders weaponize this narrative by tying the safety and existence of the state of Israel to the defense against the evils of the Holocaust. In other words, the Zionist state exploits the suffering of millions for the benefit of the powerful.
“The words of politicians like Netanyahu, the rhetoric of people like Joe Biden insisting that no Jewish person in the world is safe if Israel is not safe, consistently connecting the fate of millions of Jews living outside of Israel to the fate of the state of Israel, I cannot think of anything more antisemitic. And yet these people keep doing it, endangering Jewish populations elsewhere,” Mishra says.
The Chris Hedges Report 
