You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This topic divides people - and it will divide readers of this book too. Many Muslims worldwide either support or adopt religious veiling, and those who argue against it are often criticised, or worse. But, according to Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, the veil throws up a number of concerns, from questions of health and freedom of choice to issues of gender and personal identity. She argues that veiling conceals abuse, propagates eating disorders and restricts access to sunlight and exercise. It is imposed on babies and young girls, allows women to be shamed for not covering up, and has become associated with extremist factions. It demonises men, oppresses feminism and presents obstacles to performance and success. It even encourages racism, distorts Muslim values and strips women of autonomy and individuality. Written from a unique perspective and packed with personal experiences as well as public examples, Yasmin addresses the ultimate question of why Muslim women everywhere should refuse the veil.
“An unexpected joy of a book . . . it follows an emotional and culinary journey from childhood in pre-independence Uganda to London in the 21st century.”—The Sunday Times Through the personal story of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s family and the food and recipes they’ve shared together, The Settler’s Cookbook tells the history of Indian migration to the UK via East Africa. Her family was part of the mass exodus from India to East Africa during the height of British imperial expansion, fleeing famine and lured by the prospect of prosperity under the empire. In 1972, expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin, they moved to the UK, where Yasmin has made her home with an Englishman. The food she coo...
In this text, the author gives an up-to-date analysis of mixed race issues, supplying a history before going on to analyze dilemmas such as guilt, and the absence of social policy.
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown's personal account of growing up in East Africa up to the time of Idi Amin. Uganda in the 1950s had become home to a dispossessed Asian community who had left India in the decades before. Some came as indentured labourers, later becoming dukanwallas running their small dusty shops - laying the foundation of a future entrepreneurial empire in East Africa. Against this backdrop, Yasmin grew up in a family and a community whose belief in its supremacy over the African and its subservience to the European was riddled with contradictions, fear and paranoia which culminated in Idi Amin's violent expulsion of Asians from Uganda in the 1970s.
Throughout history, plucky, indomitable, daring, fearless women and girls have done what they felt they had to and, intentionally or otherwise, upended the social order and common values. This collection remembers ladies who punched their way through life in the past, whilst also recognising today's amazing rebels.
England may be a small country on a small island, but its inhabitants have always had a boundless curiosity about the world beyond their shoreline. From the nation's modern origins in the Renaissance, travellers have eagerly roamed the globe and been enticed by the diversity and richness of other civilizations. And while this appetite for adventure has often been tainted by aggression or exploitation, the English have also carried within them a capacity to soak up new experiences and ideas and to weave them into every aspect of life back home, from language and literature to customs and culture. Here we trace this golden thread of otherness through five centuries of English history to reveal how it has shaped the buildings, flavoured the food, powered the economy, and created a truly diverse society. Today, when England is no longer synonymous with Britain and the English ask themselves who they are, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown paints a sumptuous and illuminating portrait of who they have been and brings a fresh, invigorating perspective on what 'Englishness' really means.
Individual rights cannot always take precedence over collective, social responsibility. Without self-moderation, our streets, schoolyards, public transport, waiting rooms and restaurants would turn into bear pits. Most citizens understand that. Some, however, seem determined to cause disorder in the name of free speech. Powerful, machiavellian and wealthy individuals are leading this disruption and breaking the old consensus. Thus, anti-political correctness has taken over the UK and US, spearheaded by some of the most influential voices in media and politics. Invective, lies, hate speech, bullying, intemperance and prejudice have become the new norms. Intolerance is justified through invoca...
The past decade in the UK saw the rise of the British National Party, the country’s most successful ever far-right political movement, and the emergence of the anti-Islamic English Defence League. Taking aim at asylum seekers, Muslims, ‘enforced multiculturalism’ and benefit ‘scroungers’, these groups have been working overtime to shift the blame for the nation’s ills onto the shoulders of the vulnerable. What does this extremist resurgence say about the state of modern Britain? Drawing on archival research and extensive interviews with key figures, such as BNP leader Nick Griffin, Daniel Trilling shows how previously marginal characters from a tiny neo-Nazi subculture successfully exploited tensions exacerbated by the fear of immigration, the War on Terror and steepening economic inequality. Mainstream politicians have consistently underestimated the far right in Britain while pursuing policies that give it the space to grow. Bloody Nasty People calls time on this complacency in an account that provides us with fresh insights into the dynamics of political extremism.
Whether launching an attack on asylum policy or deciding, upon reflection, that accepting her OBE was an offensive homage to the repressive British Empire, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is never far from controversy.