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Edward Said: A Virtual Book Discussion
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Together, they will explore the political, cultural, and personal dimensions of Edward Said’s thought—from his groundbreaking work Orientalism to his enduring advocacy for Palestinian rights and his vision for justice and humanism in global affairs. The conversation will also reflect on Said’s relevance in today’s world and Hovsepian’s unique insights as both a scholar and someone who knew Said personally.
The book will be released globally on 3 June 2025, and is available for pre-ordering worldwide through major bookstores and online book retailers or through the following purchasing links:
Egypt: bit.ly/EdwardSaidEG
UK: bit.ly/EdwardSaidUK
US: bit.ly/EdwardSaidUS
About the book:
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. 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, he 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. 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.
Speakers
Nubar Hovsepian
Professor emeritus, author of books on Palestine and Lebanon, and former political affairs officer on Palestinian affairs at the United Nations
Chapman University in Orange, California
Dr. 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. He is the author of books on Palestine and Lebanon, and editor of several books including on the Iranian revolution. 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.
David Barsamian
Award-winning radio broadcaster, writer, and the founder and director of Alternative Radio
Alternative Radio
One of America’s most tireless and wide-ranging investigative journalists, David Barsamian has altered the independent media landscape, both with his weekly radio program, Alternative Radio—38 years and running— and his books with Noam Chomsky, Eqbal Ahmad, Howard Zinn, Tariq Ali, Richard Wolff, Arundhati Roy and Edward Said. His latest books are Culture and Resistance, Retargeting Iran, Chronicles of Dissent and Notes on Resistance. His forthcoming book from Haymarket in March 2024 is with Arundhati Roy, The Architecture of Modern Empire. David lectures on world affairs, imperialism, capitalism, propaganda, the media and global rebellions.
Radical Desi in Vancouver and the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center in Boulder presented him with their Lifetime Achievement Award. He has collaborated with the world-renowned Kronos Quartet in events in New York, London, Vienna, Boulder and San Francisco. He is the winner of the Media Education Award, the ACLU’s Upton Sinclair Award for independent journalism, and the Cultural Freedom Fellowship from the Lannan Foundation. The Institute for Alternative Journalism named him one of its Top Ten Media Heroes