Gen Z and the ‘second liberation’ of Bangladesh
Crowds take control of history. And looking back at another troubled time
Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story.
🎧 Would you rather listen? The podcast drops at the w/e.
In our second year, a big thank you to our community of more than 10,000 subscribers in 114 countries.
The Big Story:
Bangladesh is trying to press reset on history by ousting an autocratic prime minister and naming the Nobel Prize-winning pioneer of micro loans its temporary leader.
The dramatic display of people power in a country of 170 million is remarkable for the hope and forcefulness with which the young protesters are demanding systemic change. Is the ‘second liberation’ of Bangladesh Gen Z’s first political success story?
August 5, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh, has been described as “the second liberation”1 by Muhammad Yunus who will head the interim government.
Students led weeks of protests against Hasina, who touted the country’s development and success2 as the world’s second biggest clothes exporter but also trampled on civil rights and political freedoms.
This Week, Those Books:
An anthropologist assesses crowds as a political actor in Bangladesh.
Fact disguised as fiction from the life of a child during the first liberation.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to This Week, Those Books to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.