Saul Escobar Toledo was trained as an economist at UNAM in Mexico City and became one of the founding members of the PRD in 1989. Since then he has served the party in various functions, including coordinator of political economy and fiscal reform, member of the national planning committee, and PRD representative to the Federal Electoral Institute. He has published essays on labor reform and effects of globalization in Mexico and taught economics and political science at UNAM, Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana – Azcapotzalco, and Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Mr. Escobar Toledo speaks fluent English.

DEEPA KUMAR is an associate professor of Media Studies and Middle East studies at Rutgers University. Her work is driven by an active engagement with the key issues that characterize our era - neoliberalism and imperialism. Her first book, Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization and the UPS Strike, is about the power of collective struggle in effectively challenging the priorities of neoliberalism. Her second book titled Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire (forthcoming, 2012), examines how the “Muslim enemy” has been historically mobilized to suit the goals of empire. Her articles have appeared in scholarly journals as well as independent media such as MR Zine, Common Dreams, Dissident Voice, Islamophobia-Watch, Socialist Worker, ISR etc.

Readings, from Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire (forthcoming):