David Palumbo-Liu

The Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University

headshot of David Palumbo-Liu

David Palumbo-Liu

The Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University

Environmental Justice

Human Rights

Globalization

 About

David Palumbo-Liu

Welcome! I am a professor, writer, and activist interested in environmental justice, race and ethnicity, human rights, globalization, and the specific role that literature and the humanities play in helping us address each of these areas. I write for Truthout‘s Public Intellectual Project, and serve on Truthout’s Board of Directors. My work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Nation, The Guardian, Jacobin, Salon, Al Jazeera, and other venues.

Click the video above for an excerpt from a conversation I had with Robin DG Kelley on my most recent book.

Click the video above for an excerpt from a conversation I had with Robin DG Kelley on my most recent book.

 Podcast

Speaking Out of Place

In November 2022, I started a podcast entitled “Speaking Out of Place,” featuring stories on radical education, environmental and social justice, human rights, and much more.

screen images of the website for Speaking Out of Place
Mockup Image of Speaking Out of Place

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Speaking Out of Place: Getting Our Political Voices Back

In this book, I set forth the argument for making every public space an anti-fascist and pro-democracy space by individually and collectively reclaiming our neighborhoods, cities, globe, and planet for social and environmental justice. I show how others have already begun the process. 

Mockup image of The Deliverance of Others

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a Global Age

My sixth book is a reappraisal of the idea that narrative literature can expand readers’ empathy.  I ask what happens if–amid the voluminous influx of otherness facilitated by globalization–we continue the tradition of valorizing literature for bringing the lives of others to us, admitting them into our world and valuing the difference that they introduce into our lives? In this new historical situation, are we not forced to determine how much otherness is acceptable, as opposed how much is excessive, disruptive, and disturbing?  This inevitably ties literary interpretation to ethics.

Mockup image of The Deliverance of Others

Contact Me

Ask a question or inquire about a book or media appearance