Last updated: November 12, 2001 16:29 EST
Contextualizing the Events of September 11 and Thereafter
This page has been created as a web-gateway for those who seek answers to questions like these. It contains links to media articles, special discussion fora, widely circulated email messages and other resources. Although the selection processs is clearly subjective, there are links here to a variety of opinions and perspectives. Beyond providing information, some of the links raise questions that we may not have thought about otherwise or suggest standpoints that are beyond our imagination. The usual rules of critical reading—understanding the nature of the source and the particular standpoint of the author—must be applied.
November 12, 2001, note: (See previous notes) As two months have passed, it seems as though a lifetime has. The events of September 11, the rescue and recovery efforts, the build-up to war, war itself and its manifold consequences have moved us from first keeping track of developments and changes minute-to-minute, and then to an almost-normal return to the things that each of us is most concerned about. I usually write a dated note on this page when I am about to re-organize this base, as I am today. Perhaps a premature attempt, but I want to try now to place these events in a broader context, to restore to our vision the larger, broader questions of which we must not lose sight--human rights, for instance. We have September 11, we have the war, but what questions persist, and what questions must we finally pay attention to.
As I develop this page, there are a couple of other considerations I wish to make transparent. First, I am an Indian and a South Asian (and a South Asianist). These identities lend a particular expertise and perspective to this page as it develops and you may determine, a certain bias. I care profoundly about consequences for my part of the world. Second, it is beginning to be clear to me that it may be useful in time to link information about the experiences of other states in similar situations. Some of this is already a part of the broader discussion of consequences.
A final note on the links themselves: If any link on these pages is outdated, I suggest you look up the source page itself and track it down. It is beyond my capacity right now to go back and check on old links, so I am hoping this will serve first to provide links and then to provide a bibliography of sorts.
Contextualizing September 11, 2001:
Reality check: why, who, where, when, what
Suddenly we need to know about people and places that we barely knew existed. We need to understand their motivations and actions. Beyond blame, beyond anger, beyond grief, it is time to learn about each other.
South by Southwest: Understanding Afghanistan and its neighbourhood
The War: Truth and Consequences
Wheels within wheels, or Other relationships and considerations
In the aftermath of war
Other words, other views, other lives
Email me with your suggestions. I update these pages every other day and will continue to do so for a while.
Created September 30, 2001