Johann Hari

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Johann Hari
203
Born 1979
Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation Journalist

Johann Hari (born January 21, 1979) is a British journalist and writer. He is a columnist for The Independent and the Evening Standard. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, Le Monde and Ha'aretz.

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[edit] Early life

Hari was born in Glasgow and raised in London. Having attended Woodhouse College he graduated with a double first in Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge in 2001[1]

[edit] Politics

[edit] British domestic politics

Hari describes himself as a "European social democrat", who believes that markets are "an essential tool to generate wealth" but must be matched by strong democratic governments and strong trade unions. [2] He supports some policies of the Labour government, such as social programmes like SureStart and child tax credit[3], but opposes others, like the mistreatment of asylum seekers and tax cuts for the rich[4]. He is also a republican.[5]

Prominent themes in his writing over recent years have included the plight of asylum seekers, refugees and detention centres[6] [1] and in 2004, Hari appeared as a guest on Richard Littlejohn's Sky News to debate the issue of exactly how much asylum seekers get in benefits.[2] Hari is critical of UK prison policies, claiming that rehabilitation is impossible in overcrowded prisons, and that far too many mentally ill people are incarcerated.[3][4] He is a supporter of the international legalisation of drugs,[5] as he has argued that criminalisation of drugs is counterproductive.[6] Hari, who is openly gay, supports gay rights, advocating full legal equality, including same-sex marriage. [7] He has criticized radical gay theorists, and ideas of gay difference, superiority or separatism. [7]

[edit] International affairs

Hari has reported from many parts of the world, including Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Venezuela, Rwanda, Peru and Syria and has been a critic of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank[8]

He was, in its first year, a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq after visiting the country, because he believed anything would be better than Saddam, although he always believed the WMD rationale was false. He later wrote his support had been a 'terrible mistake'[9] and he "should have known all along Bush would produce a disaster." He has subsequently been very critical of the occupation strategy and of supporters of the war who still insist they were right.

He has campaigned for nuclear disarmament [10] through support for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.[8] and against global warming as well as greater regulation of the oil industry, and the "Manhattan Project" to develop better renewable energy sources.[11][12] Hari attributed Hurricane Katrina to man-made global warming.[13]

[edit] Notable Secularist

Hari is a noted secularist and has recently been nominated for the Secularist of the Year Award by the National Secular Society and has also written in favour of free speech[14] and against alternative medicine.[15]

He has defended rationalism and what he sees as enlightenment values, which he believes are under attack from several angles.[16] A self-described antitheist,[17] he has criticised Buddhism, Islam,[18] Judaism and Christianity for fundamentalism. He has criticised the Catholic Church's stance on birth control[19] and Islamist attitudes towards women.[20] He has also been critical of postmodernist views. [21]

[edit] Public disagreements

[edit] With George Galloway

Hari has engaged in a long disagreement with his Member of Parliament, George Galloway who he accused of "supporting a string of dictators" and being a remnant of the part of the left that supported Stalinism.[22] Galloway contested this.[23]

[edit] With Niall Ferguson

In 2006, Hari engaged in a public debate with the historians Niall Ferguson and Lawrence James in The Sunday Times, Daily Mail and The Independent,about the overall effect of the British Empire in India. Ferguson viewed British colonialism as a positive thing for India, whilst Hari argued that the British Empire was a form of totalitarianism comparable with Stalinism.[24][25][26][27]

[edit] With Nick Cohen

In 2007 Hari reviewed Nick Cohen's book What's Left in the American Dissent magazine, where he called for Cohen and others (like Hari himself) who supported the Iraq war from a left-wing perspective to admit they had been wrong and had profoundly misunderstood neoconservatism.[28]. Cohen argued that Hari's review was "Maoist" and "deceitful".[29]. Hari responded by offering quotes from Cohen's writing which he argues backed up his claims and accusing Cohen of "a baffling denial of his own words".[30]

[edit] Other writing and work

Hari is also the author of a book about the British monarchy which called for a republic, God Save the Queen?, where he argues that the system of monarchy does deep psychological damage to the members of the royal family as well as conflicting with democracy.[31] He has also written a play called Going Down in History, which was greeted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with positive reviews, most notably by the Daily Telegraph as the work of "the new David Hare".[32]

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hari, Johann (16 October), “How the British government turned the children of asylum seekers into second-class citizens”, The Independent, <http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=463> 
  2. ^ Hari, Johann. "The asylum-hating press - and the politicians who appease them - have blood on their hands", The Independent, 2004-04-16. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. 
  3. ^ Hari, Johann. "How our prisons are crammed with the mentally ill", The Independent, 2005-10-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. 
  4. ^ Hari, Johann. "Blunkett's recipe for wasted money and higher crime", The Independent, 9 June, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-05-13. 
  5. ^ Hari, Johann. "A midnight raid that shows the folly of drug prohibition", 2006-04-24. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. 
  6. ^ Hari, Johann. "The case for providing heroin addicts with safe spaces to shoot up is now unanswerable", The Independent, 24 May, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-05-15. 
  7. ^ Hari, Johann. "Gay marriages last longer", The New Statesman, 10 September, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-05-15. 
  8. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  9. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  10. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  11. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  12. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  13. ^ We're witnessing the birth of a new protest movement to force action | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com
  14. ^ Johann Hari: Free speech for all, Abu Hamza included - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent
  15. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  16. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  17. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  18. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  19. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  20. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  21. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  22. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  23. ^ RESPECT - The Unity Coalition - In the press
  24. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  25. ^ Niall Ferguson: Home truths about famine, war and genocide - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent
  26. ^ Johann Hari - Archive
  27. ^ Letters: Criminal justice system - Letters, Opinion - The Independent
  28. ^ "'What's Left' by Nick Cohen: A book review, and a eulogy for the pro-war left", Dissent, 20 July 2007, as reproduced on Johan Hari's website.
  29. ^ "'What’s left?', Dissent, as reproduced on Nick Cohen's website.
  30. ^ "A response to Nick Cohen's response: Bizarre denials and hyperbole", Dissent, 29 July 2007, as reproduced on Johan Hari's website.
  31. ^ http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=603
  32. ^ Daily Telegraph, August 17 2001]

[edit] External links