English language
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Thoughts That Shape Power
In a guest essay shared by Omar Ali, Varun argues that universities and think tanks train a country’s elite, and that lax standards and borrowed Western and Soviet theories, plus…
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Short Note on “outsiders”
Replying to a commenter, the author says he proposed that Persian gradually replace English, not Urdu, in Pakistan, arguing English is the language of elite power and that decolonisation must…
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Browncast Episode 32: Indian Linguistics Podcast
On Browncast Episode 32, a panel of linguists surveys language in South Asia, including Sanskrit as a literary lingua franca until the late medieval period, regional dialects, and English’s emergence…
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The education of the people of Tianzhu
Noting Shakespeare in India’s ruling decriminalising homosexuality, the author argues the English-speaking Indian elite remains oriented to the West even as China overtakes Britain in trade, and urges Indians to…
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How English is taking Over
Responding to a Guardian piece on English as the world’s hypercentral language, the author argues English merely reflects Anglo-American supremacy, that China’s rise will not move Chinese speakers to English,…
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How have the English paid for imperialism/colonialism?
X.T.M disputes the view that the English did South Asia favours, arguing that English benefits the Anglosphere, railways were supply chains rather than gifts, and India was no net expense…
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Why Colonialism is always wrong..
Arguing colonialism is always wrong, the author lists drawbacks of British rule in South Asia, including English displacing a native literary lingua franca as the high culture and the long…
