kenan
malik
.com

This is an archive of my work including books, broadcasts, essays, reviews, papers, talks, interviews and debates, together with reviews of my work and discussions of my ideas. There is also a biog and a bookshop.

You can take a peek at the Introduction to my new book From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and its Legacy, as well as read reviews of it.

My last book, Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides Are Wrong in the Race Debate was longlisted for the Royal Society 2009 Science Book of the Year Prize. Read the Foreword and the reviews.

Use the scroller on the left to see details of the most recent articles on this site and a diary of my forthcoming broadcasts and talks.  Pause the scroller by moving your mouse over it.

You can contact me by email, visit me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. You can also subscribe to the rss feed and to my FeedBurner email list which provides updates both of the latest articles and of upcoming talks and boadcasts.

kenan malik




'a most accomplished writer'
Roy Porter


'clear, sharp and eloquent'
Mary Midgley


'three cheeers for
Malik's rationalism'
New Scientist


'few targets escape his
forensic intelligence'
Observer


'we need more people
like him'
Financial Times

Out now in paperback


From Fatwa to Jihad

"Gripping...
The Rushdie affair has shaped all our lives.
This book shows us how."

Hanif Kureishi








"Riveting political history... Impeccably researched, brimming with detail, yet razor-sharp in its argument"

Lisa Appignanesi
Independent








"An important intervention in the debate on freedom of expression"

Monica Ali








"Enthralling"

Robert McCrum
Observer








"Terrific"

Bryan Appleyard
Sunday Times








"Valuable and sophisticated"

Theodore Dalrymple
City Journal








"An admirable piece of reportage... subtle and intelligent"

Stuart Kelly
Scotsman








"Seldom can a book have had a more searing relevance to contemporary events"

Lindsay Johns
New Humanist








"Scalpel-sharp"

Saif Shahin
Mail Today








"Detailed and arresting"

Sudeep Paul
Indian Express








"Elegant...
A necessary book"

Nazneen Khan-Østrem
Aftenposten










"The best way to deal with the likes of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is not to impose more intrusive surveillance, turn buildings into fortresses and reduce freedoms and liberties. It is to do the opposite: to peel away the layers of useless security that constrain our lives, roll back the attacks on civil liberties and accept that one can never rid ourselves entirely of the threat of terrorism."

'False reassurance'
Bergens Tidende
8 January 2010






"Index on Censorship has in recent years chronicled many instances of what we’ve called ‘pre-emptive censorship’: the willingness to censor material because of fear either of causing offence or of unleashing violence. From the Deutsche Oper cancelling a production of Idomeneo to Random House dropping The Jewel of Medina to Yale University Press’s refusal to publish the cartoons in Jytte Klausen’s book, the list is depressingly long. It is both disturbing and distressing to find Index on Censorship itself now on that list. "

'Why we should not censor ourselves'
Index on Censorship
18 December 2009






"How much resource should we put into mitigating emissions and how much into adapting to a warmer world? How do you deal with the fact that slower down economic growth may produce less CO2 but may also make it harder for people in developing countries to climb out of poverty? These are debates about political principles and ethical values that no amount of scientific data can resolve. The trouble is, the more we insist that ‘the science tells us what to do’, the less we are able to engage in the kinds of debates necessary to resolve such issues."

'The debate begins where the science ends'
Bergens Tidende
13 December 2009










10 February 2010
The Moral Maze
BBC Radio 4
20.00

Also on the panel: Claire Fox and Clifford Longley. Details to come.









24 February 2010
The Moral Maze
BBC Radio 4
20.00

Also on the panel: Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and Clifford Longley. Details to come.