Mike Marqusee – Page 18 – Writings on politics, culture and sport

Oct 1, 2006

Who’s afraid of the Asian bloc?

India Today, Champions Trophy Collectors Edition, October 2006 In the course of the this year’s Lord’s annual lecture on the ‘Spirit of Cricket’, Martin Crowe gave vent to what he clearly considered home truths about the state of the global game. “Let’s face it – Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are being kept on the international stage… Read more

Multi-culturalism and the politics of white identity

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 1st October FOR many years, attacks on “multi-culturalism” in Britain were confined to the far Right, which argued, like its counterparts in other countries, that the nation could only survive if it was homogeneous, welded together by a single racial, religious or cultural identity. However, since 9/11, “multi-culturalism” has come… Read more

Sep 17, 2006

His will is only iron

A poem by Mike Marqusee published in Babylon Burning: 9/11 five years on, poems in aid of the Red Cross, edited by Todd Swift His will is only iron The hosepipe snakes through lawns, green on green. The tank churns its dust- penumbra. At leisure, under licence, indecently arrayed in the cat-suit of decency, striding… Read more

Misbegotten Afghan adventure

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 17 September NEARLY five years after the U.S.-led coalition dispatched the Taliban and proclaimed a new dawn for Afghanistan, foreign troops are waging a full-scale war against insurgents said to control as much as half the country. Meanwhile, millions of Afghans face starvation, and the development and democracy promised by… Read more

Sep 3, 2006

The voice within – a pilgrimage to Walden Pond

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 3 September ON a recent visit to the United States, I made a pilgrimage to Walden Pond, a glistening body of water prized for its depth and clarity (only 20 miles from Boston) as well as for its association with the visionary writer, Henry David Thoreau. From July 1845 to… Read more

Sep 2, 2006

Chronicle of an obsession

Review: You Must Like Cricket? Memoirs of an Indian Cricket Fan by Soumya Bhattacharya (Yellow Jersey Press). [An edited version of this review appeared in The Guardian, 2 September] Like Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, Soumya Bhattacharya’s memoir is an intimate, often wry account of “thirty years of following a team. Three decades of highs and… Read more

Aug 19, 2006

“Proud of Israel”? The Chief Rabbi talks rubbish

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 20 August As a Jew, I’ve been asked if I’m ashamed at what Israel has been doing in Lebanon. And the answer I give is that I am disgusted, I am angry, I am appalled, but, no, I am not ashamed. Why should I be? I bear no personal responsibility… Read more

Intimately encyclopedic

Book Review: The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray (Continuum) The Guardian Review, 19 August Dylan’s work merits encyclopedic treatment not only because of its intrinsic richness and cultural import, but also because of its multi-sided, history-fraught nature. He crosses many boundaries. His sources are bewilderingly multiple. His evolution is complex, marked by political, aesthetic… Read more

Aug 6, 2006

Imperial whitewash

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 6 August As of November last year, anyone applying for British citizenship has to pass a test demonstrating both proficiency in English and “sufficient knowledge of life in the United Kingdom”. In preparation for the test, applicants are asked to study a booklet that begins with a brief history of Britain…. Read more

Jul 17, 2006

The thump of humbug on willow

Comment is free, The Guardian, July 17 Martin Crowe’s recent lecture at Lord’s – the sixth annual Cowdrey lecture – was formally dedicated to the Spirit of Cricket. As I’m always wary when this term is invoked, I wasn’t entirely shocked to find Crowe – former New Zealand captain, now a Rupert Murdoch employee –… Read more

Out now: Definable Traces in the Atmosphere

About Mike Marqusee