The time of anger, the history of the present

The book "The Age of Rage: The History of the Present" is one of the most important works of the Indian novelist Bankaj Mishra, and its significance derives from the dual culture of its author, who combines his Indian upbringing and culture with integration into Western English culture. The author, through a precise and in-depth analysis of the prevailing global conditions, intellectual trends, and events that have shaped them since the Enlightenment era, presents a new vision for the development of the modern and contemporary world. His methodology is based on tracing the sources of populism and extremism, which have come to dominate our era, and concludes that this situation is due to the frustrations felt by marginalized people who did not find their fulfillment in modernity, as it first took shape in the Western world and then spread to other regions. The author goes beyond a fragmented view in analyzing the phenomena witnessed in the world, most notably the rise of populist currents represented by the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, Britain's exit from the European Union, and the rise of the Islamic State organization—these are the most vivid examples. The author attributes all these phenomena, which may seem distant and different, to a single source: they are a reflection of deep discontent among youth who feel marginalized after two centuries of progress promoted by Enlightenment thought and embodied in liberal modernity. Through this approach, the author refutes the perspective that considers the world's problems to lie outside liberal modernity, mainly blaming Islam and its alleged hostile nature. The author goes further, considering that movements such as cultural nationalism, political Islam, progressivism, terrorism, fascism, and pluralism all have their roots in Enlightenment thought itself. The model crafted and promoted by the Atlantic West, based on secularization and the manufacturing of modern societies, according to the author, contains within it the seeds of its crises and perhaps its demise. Modernity, which sweeps away traditional structures, remains incapable of fulfilling its promises of equality, social elevation, happiness, and well-being. As a result, rage stirs within large segments of society, who experience deep anxiety about their future and feel excluded from the march of progress.