In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Aakar Patel – author of The Anarchist Cookbook. A Toolkit to Protest and Peaceful Resistance – discusses why he considers dissent essential to improving society; what lessons we can draw from successful recent examples of protest; which options activists have to amplify and maximize their efforts; and how egregious laws on the book, practices of denying rights, and the extreme disparities of Indian society have shaped activists’ possibilities and agenda.

Aakar Patel is an Indian journalist, activist, and author. He served as the head of Amnesty International in India between 2015 and 2019 and currently serves as the chair of the Board of said organization. He is the author of several books, including Our Hindu Rashtra, an account of majoritarianism in India, and of Price of the Modi Years, which examines the administrative performance of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Anarchist Cookbook. A Toolkit to Protest and Peaceful Resistance has been published by HarperCollins India.

In collaboration with Lucie Hunter.