Three Or More Is A Riot: Notes On Howe Got Here: 2012-2025
by Jelani Cobb
One World, 2025
by Jelani Cobb
One World, 2025
[Publication date: October 14, 2025]
From one of the definitive journalists of this era—acclaimed historian, Pulitzer Prize finalist, staff writer at The New Yorker, and Dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism—comes a kaleidoscopic, real-time portrait of the turbulent past decade.
“Gripping . . . a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short . . . Cobb is unfailingly modest about his insight and the power of his work to effect change. But that modesty belies the fact that Cobb’s writing makes us feel the injustice deeply.”—The New York Times Book Review
What just happened?
From the moment that Trayvon Martin’s senseless murder initiated the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, America has been convulsed by new social movements—around guns, gender violence, sexual harassment, race, policing, and on and on—and an equally powerful backlash that abetted the rise of the MAGA movement. In this punchy, powerful collection of dispatches, mostly published in The New Yorker, Jelani Cobb pulls the signal from the noise of this chaotic era.
Cobb’s work as a reporter takes readers to the front lines of sometimes violent conflict, and he uses his gifts as a critic and historian to crack open the meaning of it all. Through a stunning mélange of narrative journalism, criticism, and penetrating profiles, Cobb’s writing captures the crises, characters, movements, and art of an era—and helps readers understand what might be coming next.
Cobb has added new material to this collection—retrospective pieces that bring these stories up-to-date and tie them together, shaping these powerful short dispatches into a cohesive, epic narrative of one of the most consequential periods in recent American history
“Gripping . . . a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short . . . Cobb is unfailingly modest about his insight and the power of his work to effect change. But that modesty belies the fact that Cobb’s writing makes us feel the injustice deeply.”—The New York Times Book Review
What just happened?
From the moment that Trayvon Martin’s senseless murder initiated the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, America has been convulsed by new social movements—around guns, gender violence, sexual harassment, race, policing, and on and on—and an equally powerful backlash that abetted the rise of the MAGA movement. In this punchy, powerful collection of dispatches, mostly published in The New Yorker, Jelani Cobb pulls the signal from the noise of this chaotic era.
Cobb’s work as a reporter takes readers to the front lines of sometimes violent conflict, and he uses his gifts as a critic and historian to crack open the meaning of it all. Through a stunning mélange of narrative journalism, criticism, and penetrating profiles, Cobb’s writing captures the crises, characters, movements, and art of an era—and helps readers understand what might be coming next.
Cobb has added new material to this collection—retrospective pieces that bring these stories up-to-date and tie them together, shaping these powerful short dispatches into a cohesive, epic narrative of one of the most consequential periods in recent American history
“In this collection of cultural criticism and reportage—drawn mostly from his writing for The New Yorker—Cobb offers a cleareyed look at a turbulent decade of grass-roots social movements and the eventual right-wing backlash they inspired.”—The New York Times, “21 Nonfiction Books Coming This Fall”
“[Three or More Is a Riot] is a gripping anthology of Cobb’s writing. . . . Cobb is unfailingly modest about his insight and the power of his work to effect change. But that modesty belies the fact that Cobb’s writing makes us feel the injustice deeply. . . . It is foremost a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short. On the rare occasions when he inserts his personal experience into the journalism, the result is a rich and satisfying creation.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Cobb offers an expansive collection of his published essays. . . . The volume includes political reportage, thoughtful cultural criticism . . . and obituaries and profiles. . . . The collection’s through line is Cobb’s sharp exploration of how America’s history of white supremacy continues to influence contemporary events.”—Publishers Weekly
“Each essay is a vivid snapshot of the America that existed at the time and a glimpse at the one that might have been, ultimately showing the reader the how of what America came to be.”—Adam Serwer, New York Times bestselling author of The Cruelty Is the Point
“Three or More Is a Riot is an archive of a writer at the height of his powers—and his powers are many. Insight, historical memory, reportage, pith, and, not least of all, wit. All these gifts he deploys here without missing a beat, effortlessly weaving them into his own distinctive style. We live in a time when writers like Cobb are being targeted by the highest powers in this nation. Read this book to understand why.”—Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of The Message
“Trained first as a scholar and then as a journalist, Jelani Cobb is an essayist of rare erudition and integrity. From his first pieces about Trayvon Martin to his more recent explorations of race in the Trump era, he has been an exemplar of intellectual honesty, fierce self-questioning, and independence. Jelani Cobb is a truth-teller and this book is a gift.”—David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jelani Cobb is the current Dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalim. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker, author of several books including The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress and To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic. He is the editor/co-editor on multiple volumes including The Matter of Black Lives and The Essential Kerner Commission Report. Dr. Cobb is the producer/co-producer on documentaries including THE RIOT REPORT. He received the Peabody Award in 2020 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. Dr. Cobb currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Journalism Project and the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library.
A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness: Reports on Israel's Genocide in Palestine
by Francesca Albanese, Mandy Turner, (Editor, Contributor), and further contributions by Lex Takkenberg, Richard Falkj, John Duggard, and Michael Lynx
Pluto Press, 2025
[Publication date: October 8, 2025]
"Francesca
Albanese’s clear moral voice and expert analysis sheds light on
Palestine’s darkest moment in history. This book will help to judge
those who were on the right and wrong side of history." - Ilan Pappe,
bestselling author
Israel’s genocide in Palestine and the complicity of powerful Western states is undermining international human rights and the UN system. The United States has imposed sanctions on lawyers, UN experts, and Palestinian officials in an attempt to bully and intimidate them into silence. One prominent example is UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has played an important role in documenting Israel’s atrocities and those who profit from its oppression of Palestinians.
This book compiles Albanese’s indispensable and damning reports on Israel’s conduct in Palestine since October 2023. First outlining the case that this period should be understood as a genocide, Albanese goes on to explain how the ongoing violence fits into a longer history of Israel’s settler colonialism, and finally presents a devastating indictment against the international corporations that treat mass killing and destruction as a business opportunity.
The volume also features a reflection by Albanese on the current state of affairs; revelations by her predecessors Richard Falk, John Dugard, and Michael Lynk of their experiences as UN special rapporteurs; and a preface by Lex Takkenberg, a 30-year veteran of UNRWA, co-authored with scholar Mandy Turner.
All royalties from sales of the book will be donated to UNRWA.
"Francesca Albanese is perhaps the one figure of our times that future historians will recall as the one who did the most to redeem our generation from its guilt over the genocide of the Palestinian people. Her reflections in this book are not just timely—they are for the ages." - Yanis Varoufakis, author, economist and former Minister of Finance of Greece
"When I came out of Gaza at the end of November 2023, I discovered that Israel was only the tip of the genocidal iceberg. The rest of the iceberg was the enablement apparatus – a system of states, institutions and individuals whose sole purpose was to ensure the longevity of a genocidal project now into its third year. This book dissects this apparatus, shedding light on its constitutive accomplices." - Ghassan Abu-Sittah, British-Palestinian trauma surgeon and Rector of the University of Glasgow
The ebook is free to download from www.plutobooks.com indefinitely, with a request for a donation to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA.
Israel’s genocide in Palestine and the complicity of powerful Western states is undermining international human rights and the UN system. The United States has imposed sanctions on lawyers, UN experts, and Palestinian officials in an attempt to bully and intimidate them into silence. One prominent example is UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has played an important role in documenting Israel’s atrocities and those who profit from its oppression of Palestinians.
This book compiles Albanese’s indispensable and damning reports on Israel’s conduct in Palestine since October 2023. First outlining the case that this period should be understood as a genocide, Albanese goes on to explain how the ongoing violence fits into a longer history of Israel’s settler colonialism, and finally presents a devastating indictment against the international corporations that treat mass killing and destruction as a business opportunity.
The volume also features a reflection by Albanese on the current state of affairs; revelations by her predecessors Richard Falk, John Dugard, and Michael Lynk of their experiences as UN special rapporteurs; and a preface by Lex Takkenberg, a 30-year veteran of UNRWA, co-authored with scholar Mandy Turner.
All royalties from sales of the book will be donated to UNRWA.
"Francesca Albanese is perhaps the one figure of our times that future historians will recall as the one who did the most to redeem our generation from its guilt over the genocide of the Palestinian people. Her reflections in this book are not just timely—they are for the ages." - Yanis Varoufakis, author, economist and former Minister of Finance of Greece
"When I came out of Gaza at the end of November 2023, I discovered that Israel was only the tip of the genocidal iceberg. The rest of the iceberg was the enablement apparatus – a system of states, institutions and individuals whose sole purpose was to ensure the longevity of a genocidal project now into its third year. This book dissects this apparatus, shedding light on its constitutive accomplices." - Ghassan Abu-Sittah, British-Palestinian trauma surgeon and Rector of the University of Glasgow
The ebook is free to download from www.plutobooks.com indefinitely, with a request for a donation to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA.
REVIEWS:
'When
I came out of Gaza at the end of November 2023, I discovered that
Israel was only the tip of the genocidal iceberg. The rest was the
enablement apparatus – a system of states, institutions, and individuals
– which ensured the longevity of a genocidal project now into its third
year. This book dissects this apparatus, shedding light on its
constitutive accomplices'
--Ghassan Abu-Sittah
'Albanese has spoken truth with unflinching clarity in a world largely silent in the face of a holocaust, carrying out her mandate with integrity and defiance that honours both the law and the human conscience. This book is a formidable indictment of injustice and demonstrates what it means to stand alone against power'
--Susan Abulhawa
'Albanese’s expert analysis sheds light on Palestine’s darkest moment in history. While millions of people formed an unprecedented solidarity movement with the Palestinians, their governments by and large remained indifferent. This book will help to judge those who were on the right and wrong side of history.'
--Ilan Pappe
'Francesca Albanese’s compelling work is essential for all who seek truth and justice'
--Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan
'A scholarly and humane presentation of the indisputable facts of genocide by a courageous defender of universal human rights'
--Camille Mansour, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Institute for Palestine Studies
'The message of this important book is powerful. It asserts that only by speaking out and refusing to be intimidated can the arc of history bend toward justice. Albanese documents the role of powerful agents who profit from oppression and, despite threats and sanctions, refuses to be silenced'
--Raja Shehadeh, writer and co-founder of Al-Haq
'As the world has witnessed the escalating horror in Gaza, Albanese has offered a powerful voice at international level, in condemning the genocide being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Her words matter'
--Ivana Bacik TD, Leader, Labour Party Ireland
'Albanese’s descriptions of the genocide in Gaza, alongside her analyses of Israel’s crimes and those who have been complicit, has set a new benchmark, one marked by lucidity and courage'
--Neve Gordon, Professor of Human Rights Law, Queen Mary University of London
'Albanese courageously reminds us that if ‘never again’ is to mean anything, never again is now'
--Ardi Imseis, Professor of International Law, Queen’s University, Canada
'Francesca Albanese exposes Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the layers of complicity that sustain it – from state power and corporate interests to the quieter endorsement of universities and trade unions. A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness is a vital intervention, compelling readers to demand accountability'
--Rafeef Ziadah, Senior Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy, King’s College London
'Few public figures have confronted Israel’s unfolding genocide in Gaza with the courage and clarity of Francesca Albanese. A necessary, urgent, and important contribution to the historical record'
--Adam Hanieh, Professor of Political Economy and Global Development, University of Exeter
'Albanese is the gold standard for international advocacy, rigorously grounded in international law. She constantly sets the agenda; if you want to know where the discourse goes next, follow her'
--Chris Gunness, Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project; former UNRWA Director of Communication
'Francesca Albanese has been a light in one of history’s darkest moments. Grounded in international law, guided by a quest for human rights, and undeterred by threats, she has not only meticulously recorded the crimes of a ruthless regime, but has set out a course for justice in their wake'
--Craig Mokhiber, former senior United Nations official
'In the reports collected here, we see the contours of Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians, its regime of apartheid, and the extensive network of support that bolsters it across the global North. This book is an important document archiving one of the greatest atrocities of our time'
--Laleh Khalili, Al Qasimi Professor of Gulf Studies, University of Exeter
'A crucially important book in which Francesca Albanese argues clearly and unequivocally that unless justice is done, the rules-based order is no more. Francesca, the people’s lawyer globally, understands as intrinsically as Nelson Mandela did that ‘our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people’.'
--Andrew Feinstein, former ANC member of parliament and executive-director of Shadow World Investigations
'At a moment when Israel and its allies work to obscure the truth, this book is a vital, historic record. Francesca Albanese’s reports offer an essential tool for justice, solidarity, and lasting peace'
--Nicola Pratt, Professor of the International Politics of the Middle East, University of Warwick
'This remarkable book is a call for hope and action for humanity. We cannot emerge from this genocide unchanged'
--Victoria Brittain, journalist and author
'During the Gaza genocide, Francesca Albanese has become the world’s moral conscience, with profound scholarship and analyses exposing the crimes and complicity of those who have neither morals nor conscience. This book demonstrates why her place in history is assured'
--Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya
'Francesca Albanese combines legal expertise and commitment to justice with outstanding courage. A most illuminating book on the darkest chapter in the history of the twenty-first century'
--Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford
'This book showcases the essential and herculean work Francesca Albanese has produced in defence of Palestinian rights in a time of Israeli genocide'
--Lisa Hajjar, Professor of Sociology, University of California Santa Barbara
'Albanese represents human rights expertise at its best. She equips the international movement for a free Palestine with meticulously researched analyses that further its cause globally'
--Ayça Çubukçu, Associate Professor in Human Rights, London School of Economics
'Francesca Albanese has transcended the role of UN rapporteur to become an iconic presence in one of humanity’s darkest chapters – not merely for the testimony she bears, but for the way she reorders our imagination of power, showing how it can be confronted and remade'
'Francesca Albanese has transcended the role of UN rapporteur to become an iconic presence in one of humanity’s darkest chapters – not merely for the testimony she bears, but for the way she reorders our imagination of power, showing how it can be confronted and remade'
--Leila Sansour, writer and filmmaker
'Francesca Albanese’s reports are a rallying cry for justice. They teach us how to speak law to power'
--Nimer Sultany, SOAS University of London
'This book is a real-time documentation of an ongoing genocide – a genocide justified, supported, and facilitated by Western powers, media and corporations. It serves as an indispensable source in advancing justice, accountability, and freedom for Palestinians'
--Lana Tatour, University of New South Wales, Sydney
'Francesca Albanese has documented genocide with forensic clarity, legal precision, and moral force. A vital work of courage, resistance, and hope in a time of monstrous silence, malevolence, and cowardice. A lighthouse in a storm of propaganda'
--Muhammad Shehada, Palestinian writer from Gaza
'As Israel and its collaborators continue their atrocities, this book is a defiant reminder that we are many, they are few, and that their crimes against the Palestinians will never be forgotten. While Israel writes the world’s darkest chapter, global civil society writes its finest'
--Penny Green, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London
'With lucid analysis and courage, Albanese explains how genocide is organically tied to settler colonialism, is sustained by corporate interests, and relies on the failure of the international community to hold Israel accountable to international law. This book reminds us of our moral responsibility to bear witness, speak truth to power, and stop Israel’s determination to erase the Palestinian people.'
--Leila Farsakh, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
'Francesca Albanese is an erudite and courageous voice. If there is hope to be found in these dark days, it resides in her indispensable work'
--Sara Roy, author of Unsilencing Gaza: Reflections on Resistance
'Francesca Albanese is one of the most courageous and respected defenders of human rights and international law. This book should not only be widely read but embraced as a model of what meaningful solidarity looks like'
--Ramzy Baroud, editor of Palestine Chronicle
'With clarity and compassion, Albanese registers the devastating shape, expanse, and mechanics of a genocide. These reports lend further weight to the heaving documentary archive of atrocities against the Palestinian people, and offer a sustenance of hope and solidarity'
--Mezna Qato, University of Cambridge
'If an international community exists, Albanese is its leading voice of solidarity with the Palestinian people: principled, honest, fearless, and compassionate. In the darkest hour of the Palestinian people, Albanese’s example shames the world but also shows how it could be different'
--Ralph Wilde, Professor of International Law, University College London
'A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness reflects Francesca Albanese fearless pursuit of truth, her struggle for accountability, and her belief in a different world that is, indeed, already rising'
--Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University
'Albanese’s reports are amongst the most thorough, comprehensive, and courageous documentation of the genocide in Gaza. The attempts to silence her and to dismantle UNRWA are yet another part of the broader campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people and their rights'
--Amos Goldberg, Professor of Holocaust and Genocide History, Jerusalem
'Francesca Albanese has been a generational voice of conscience on Palestine. She has narrated, conceptualised, and opposed Israel’s genocide with unwavering clarity – providing essential legal analysis while situating the genocide in its full settler colonial and political economic context'
--John Reynolds, Associate Professor of Law, Maynooth University
'An urgent and vital contribution to public understanding of the mechanisms and underpinnings of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. A landmark publication'
--Matthew Teller, co-editor of Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture
'A brave, principled, and unflinching account of the horror Israel has inflicted on Palestine and what the world must do to stop it'
--Victor Kattan, School of Law, University of Nottingham
'A remarkable contribution to the current debates on the role of law in resisting Israel’s crimes. It documents the crimes, names the perpetrators, and provides an analysis that opens up avenues for accountability. Albanese’s voice has been, and remains, a courageous and clear voice in the struggle for liberation and human rights in Palestine'
--Mazen Masri, The City Law School, City St. George’s University of London
'Albanese is perhaps the one figure of our times that future historians will recall as the one who did the most to redeem our generation from its guilt over the genocide of the Palestinian people. Her reflections in this book are not just timely – they are for the ages'
'As Israel and its collaborators continue their atrocities, this book is a defiant reminder that we are many, they are few, and that their crimes against the Palestinians will never be forgotten. While Israel writes the world’s darkest chapter, global civil society writes its finest'
--Penny Green, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London
'With lucid analysis and courage, Albanese explains how genocide is organically tied to settler colonialism, is sustained by corporate interests, and relies on the failure of the international community to hold Israel accountable to international law. This book reminds us of our moral responsibility to bear witness, speak truth to power, and stop Israel’s determination to erase the Palestinian people.'
--Leila Farsakh, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
'Francesca Albanese is an erudite and courageous voice. If there is hope to be found in these dark days, it resides in her indispensable work'
--Sara Roy, author of Unsilencing Gaza: Reflections on Resistance
'Francesca Albanese is one of the most courageous and respected defenders of human rights and international law. This book should not only be widely read but embraced as a model of what meaningful solidarity looks like'
--Ramzy Baroud, editor of Palestine Chronicle
'With clarity and compassion, Albanese registers the devastating shape, expanse, and mechanics of a genocide. These reports lend further weight to the heaving documentary archive of atrocities against the Palestinian people, and offer a sustenance of hope and solidarity'
--Mezna Qato, University of Cambridge
'If an international community exists, Albanese is its leading voice of solidarity with the Palestinian people: principled, honest, fearless, and compassionate. In the darkest hour of the Palestinian people, Albanese’s example shames the world but also shows how it could be different'
--Ralph Wilde, Professor of International Law, University College London
'A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness reflects Francesca Albanese fearless pursuit of truth, her struggle for accountability, and her belief in a different world that is, indeed, already rising'
--Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University
'Albanese’s reports are amongst the most thorough, comprehensive, and courageous documentation of the genocide in Gaza. The attempts to silence her and to dismantle UNRWA are yet another part of the broader campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people and their rights'
--Amos Goldberg, Professor of Holocaust and Genocide History, Jerusalem
'Francesca Albanese has been a generational voice of conscience on Palestine. She has narrated, conceptualised, and opposed Israel’s genocide with unwavering clarity – providing essential legal analysis while situating the genocide in its full settler colonial and political economic context'
--John Reynolds, Associate Professor of Law, Maynooth University
'An urgent and vital contribution to public understanding of the mechanisms and underpinnings of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. A landmark publication'
--Matthew Teller, co-editor of Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture
'A brave, principled, and unflinching account of the horror Israel has inflicted on Palestine and what the world must do to stop it'
--Victor Kattan, School of Law, University of Nottingham
'A remarkable contribution to the current debates on the role of law in resisting Israel’s crimes. It documents the crimes, names the perpetrators, and provides an analysis that opens up avenues for accountability. Albanese’s voice has been, and remains, a courageous and clear voice in the struggle for liberation and human rights in Palestine'
--Mazen Masri, The City Law School, City St. George’s University of London
'Albanese is perhaps the one figure of our times that future historians will recall as the one who did the most to redeem our generation from its guilt over the genocide of the Palestinian people. Her reflections in this book are not just timely – they are for the ages'
--Yanis Varoufakis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Francesca Albanese is an international lawyer specialising in human rights and the Middle East. Since 2022, she has served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. An affiliate scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, Albanese is the author of J’Accuse and co-author (with Lex Takkenberg) of Palestinian Refugees in International Law.
ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS:
Mandy Turner is a researcher based in London. She has held positions as professor of conflict, peace, and humanitarian affairs at the University of Manchester, UK; director of the Kenyon Institute in East Jerusalem; and senior lecturer in conflict resolution at University of Bradford. Her last book was an edited collection From the River to the Sea: Palestine and Israel in the Shadow of ‘Peace’ published in Arabic in 2024 by ACRPS (Doha). She currently writes for Security in Context.
Lex Takkenberg is Senior Advisor on the Question of Palestine at ARDD (Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development) and freelance lecturer at the University of Vienna. From 1989-2019, he worked with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. He is co-author (with Francesca Albanese) of The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law.
Richard Falk is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Princeton University in the United States. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 from 2008-2012, and is currently Chair of the Gaza Tribunal. He is a prolific writer on international law and global politics; his most recent publication is Genocide in Gaza: Global Voices of Conscience (co-editor with Ahmet Davutoğlu).
John Dugard SC is Emeritus Professor of Law at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Leiden and a Member of Institut de Droit International. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 from 2001-2008; and currently serves as Legal Counsel, South Africa v Israel (Genocide Convention).
Michael Lynk is Professor Emeritus of Law at Western University in Canada, where he taught from 1999 until his retirement in 2022. He has published widely in the areas of Canadian labour law, human rights law, and international law. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 from 2016-2022.
The Theatre Of Refusal:
Dancing Foxes Press, 2025
Updated documentation of The Theater of Refusal on the exhibition's 30th anniversary
Published with Kunstlerhaus Stuttgart and The Brick.
In 1993, at the University of California, Irvine, Charles Gaines and Catherine Lord mounted a category-breaking exhibition of Black artists from different generations, working across Fluxus, Conceptualism, assemblage, photography and installation. Challenging the racializing of Black artists’ work, the exhibition confronted the discourse around race difference in the United States by including excerpts of writing by art critics who had discussed the featured artists. On the 30th anniversary of this event, this publication reprints the eponymous 1993 volume documenting the show, which contained essays by Gaines, Lord and Berger, and the transcript of a roundtable of artists and writers. Reproducing images of the exhibition in color for the first time, this new edition augments the original publication with an essay by poet and scholar Fred Moten; recent conversations between Lord and Gaines; an interview with Gaines by Moten; and a new roundtable discussion moderated and edited by curator Jamillah James and Thomas (T.) Jean Lax.
Published with Kunstlerhaus Stuttgart and The Brick.
In 1993, at the University of California, Irvine, Charles Gaines and Catherine Lord mounted a category-breaking exhibition of Black artists from different generations, working across Fluxus, Conceptualism, assemblage, photography and installation. Challenging the racializing of Black artists’ work, the exhibition confronted the discourse around race difference in the United States by including excerpts of writing by art critics who had discussed the featured artists. On the 30th anniversary of this event, this publication reprints the eponymous 1993 volume documenting the show, which contained essays by Gaines, Lord and Berger, and the transcript of a roundtable of artists and writers. Reproducing images of the exhibition in color for the first time, this new edition augments the original publication with an essay by poet and scholar Fred Moten; recent conversations between Lord and Gaines; an interview with Gaines by Moten; and a new roundtable discussion moderated and edited by curator Jamillah James and Thomas (T.) Jean Lax.
ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS:
Mandy Turner is a researcher based in London. She has held positions as professor of conflict, peace, and humanitarian affairs at the University of Manchester, UK; director of the Kenyon Institute in East Jerusalem; and senior lecturer in conflict resolution at University of Bradford. Her last book was an edited collection From the River to the Sea: Palestine and Israel in the Shadow of ‘Peace’ published in Arabic in 2024 by ACRPS (Doha). She currently writes for Security in Context.
Lex Takkenberg is Senior Advisor on the Question of Palestine at ARDD (Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development) and freelance lecturer at the University of Vienna. From 1989-2019, he worked with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. He is co-author (with Francesca Albanese) of The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law.
Richard Falk is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Princeton University in the United States. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 from 2008-2012, and is currently Chair of the Gaza Tribunal. He is a prolific writer on international law and global politics; his most recent publication is Genocide in Gaza: Global Voices of Conscience (co-editor with Ahmet Davutoğlu).
John Dugard SC is Emeritus Professor of Law at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Leiden and a Member of Institut de Droit International. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 from 2001-2008; and currently serves as Legal Counsel, South Africa v Israel (Genocide Convention).
Michael Lynk is Professor Emeritus of Law at Western University in Canada, where he taught from 1999 until his retirement in 2022. He has published widely in the areas of Canadian labour law, human rights law, and international law. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 from 2016-2022.
Edward Said: The Politics of an Oppositional Intellectual
by Nubar Hovsepian
The American University in Cairo Press, 2025
[Publication date: June 3, 2025]
“A learned and intimate exploration of Said’s thought with deep relevance for today’s debates about Palestine and Israel and American intellectual life.”—Peter Beinart, author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza
An exploration of the political thought of one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers and the foremost advocate for the Palestinian cause in the West
Edward Said was one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. A literary scholar with an aesthete’s temperament, he did not experience his political awakening until the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, which transformed his thinking and led him to forge ties with political groups and like-minded scholars. Said’s subsequent writings, which cast light on the interplay between cultural representation and the exercise of Western political power, caused a seismic shift in scholarly circles and beyond. In this intimate intellectual biography, by a close friend and confidant, Nubar Hovsepian offers fascinating insight into the evolution of Said’s political thought.
Through analysis of Said’s seminal works and the debates surrounding them, Edward Said: The Politics of an Oppositional Intellectual traces the influence of Foucault on Said, and how Said eventually diverged from this influence to arrive at a more pronounced understanding of agency, resistance, and liberation. He consequently affiliated more closely with Raymond Williams, Antonio Gramsci, and more contemporaneously, with his friends the late Eqbal Ahmad and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod.
Said held that it is the intellectual’s responsibility to expose lies and deceptions of the holders of power. A passionate advocate for the Palestinian cause, his solidarity did not prevent him from launching a sustained critique of the Palestinian leadership. Hovsepian charts both Said’s engagement with the Palestinian national movement and his exchanges with a host of intellectuals over Palestine, arguing that Said’s interventions have succeeded in changing the parameters of the discourse in the humanities, and among younger Jews searching for political affiliation.
Drawing on his diaries, in which he recorded his meetings with Said, as well as access to some of Said’s private letters, Hovsepian illuminates, in rich detail, the trajectory of Said’s political thinking and the depth and breadth of his engagement with peers and critics over issues that continue to resonate to this day.
An exploration of the political thought of one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers and the foremost advocate for the Palestinian cause in the West
Edward Said was one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. A literary scholar with an aesthete’s temperament, he did not experience his political awakening until the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, which transformed his thinking and led him to forge ties with political groups and like-minded scholars. Said’s subsequent writings, which cast light on the interplay between cultural representation and the exercise of Western political power, caused a seismic shift in scholarly circles and beyond. In this intimate intellectual biography, by a close friend and confidant, Nubar Hovsepian offers fascinating insight into the evolution of Said’s political thought.
Through analysis of Said’s seminal works and the debates surrounding them, Edward Said: The Politics of an Oppositional Intellectual traces the influence of Foucault on Said, and how Said eventually diverged from this influence to arrive at a more pronounced understanding of agency, resistance, and liberation. He consequently affiliated more closely with Raymond Williams, Antonio Gramsci, and more contemporaneously, with his friends the late Eqbal Ahmad and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod.
Said held that it is the intellectual’s responsibility to expose lies and deceptions of the holders of power. A passionate advocate for the Palestinian cause, his solidarity did not prevent him from launching a sustained critique of the Palestinian leadership. Hovsepian charts both Said’s engagement with the Palestinian national movement and his exchanges with a host of intellectuals over Palestine, arguing that Said’s interventions have succeeded in changing the parameters of the discourse in the humanities, and among younger Jews searching for political affiliation.
Drawing on his diaries, in which he recorded his meetings with Said, as well as access to some of Said’s private letters, Hovsepian illuminates, in rich detail, the trajectory of Said’s political thinking and the depth and breadth of his engagement with peers and critics over issues that continue to resonate to this day.
REVIEWS:
“Political scientist Hovsepian (Palestinian State Formation) delivers an incisive portrait of his ‘dear friend’. . . . It’s a moving tribute to an intellectual giant and a first-rate work of scholarship.”—Publisher’s Weekly
“Nubar Hovsepian provides us with a novel and truly compelling way of understanding Said’s thinking over time that could only have come from someone with as long and close a personal friendship with Said as the author had. Hovsepian reveals his extraordinary command of Said’s entire corpus of writings, which he examines in a manner that is both erudite and lucid. What emerges is a scholarly yet intimate but not uncritical study of Said’s life of the mind that speaks not only to Said’s brilliance but to his humanity and unyielding morality.” —Sara Roy, author of Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
“The eloquent record of a unique and intimate friendship, as well as a privileged perspective on three decades of tormented Middle East politics, this volume fills in, like no book before it, what it means—in the messiness of real-world history as it is happening—to be an oppositional intellectual. Hovsepian does not hesitate to speak truth to and about his intellectually powerful friend, and the result is only to strengthen Said’s reputation as a peerless model of the engaged intellectual, committed both to passionate solidarity and to universal values.”—Bruce Robbins, Columbia University
“A learned and intimate exploration of Said’s thought with deep relevance for today’s debates about Palestine and Israel and American intellectual life.”—Peter Beinart, author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nubar Hovsepian (Author) is associate professor emeritus of political science at Chapman University in Orange, California. He is the author of Palestinian State Formation: Education and the Construction of National Identity, and he edited and contributed to The War on Lebanon.
Hovsepian has devoted enormous time to the Israel/Palestine conflict,
and served, from 1982 to 1984, as political affairs officer for the
United Nations Conference on the Question of Palestine.
Rashid Khalidi
(Foreword by) is Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies
at Columbia University. He is the author of eight books, including The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917–2017 (2020).
