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

Democratic societies take pride in offering citizens freedom of expression. Indeed, the right to dissent and tolerance of diverse viewpoints are said to distinguish a democratic society from a dictatorship. In his new book, Prof Ram Mohan profiles famous dissenters like Arundhati Roy, Oliver Stone, Kancha Ilaiah, David Irving, Yanis Varoufakis, UG Krishnamurti, and John Pilger to illustrate how, in practice, freedom of expression and dissent tend to be severely circumscribed. One may not agree with the dissenters positions on various issues. through the lives and ideas of these dissenters, the author argues that one may not agree with the dissenters positions on certain issues, but their views merit discussion and debate. Engaging with the dissenters and responding to their analyses holds out the prospect for substantive reform within the system. Yet, the dominant elites prefer not to do so. Their instinct everywhere is to marginalise and even ostracise the dissenters precisely because they find change of any sort threatening. Rebels with a Cause is book that challenges the way we view, and live in, the world and asks hard questions an important book for anyone who refuses to follow the status quo.

About the Author :
T.T. RAM MOHAN, professor of finance and economics at IIM Ahmedabad, graduated from IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta and obtained his doctorate from Stern School of Business, New York University. He has been, at various points in time, a management consultant, banker, investment banker and financial journalist. Prof. Ram Mohan studied at IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta, and obtained his doctorate from Stern School of Business, New York University. He worked extensively in consultancy and in the financial sector before venturing into academics. He has been the divisional manager at Tata Economic Consultancy Services, head of strategy at Standard Chartered Bank and the vice president of the American investment bank of Bear Stearns Asia Ltd. (Hong Kong). Prof. Ram Mohan has been a financial journalist at various points in time. He was the New York correspondent for Economic Times, Economics correspondent for India Abroad (New York), and contributing editor (South Asia) with Financial Times of London's international reports. For over fifteen years, he wrote a fortnightly column for Economic Times. His current research interests include banking sector reforms, privatization and corporate governance. He has been active in the area of executive training as well. He has presented papers at conferences in India and abroad and published several papers in leading journals. He has authored five books: The Big Picture: Reflections on our economic times (Viva Books), Privatisation in India: Challenging Economic Orthodoxy (Routledge, UK), Regulation of Financial Intermediaries in Emerging Markets (Sage Publications, co-edited with Rupa Rege Nitsure), Brick by Red Brick: Ravi Matthai and the Making of IIM Ahmedabad (Rupa Publications), and Before and After the Global Crisis (Gyan Publications). Prof. Ram Mohan was visiting faculty at Stern School of Business NYU in 2001. He has served on several boards of companies and numerous committees of the Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India.