Ian Buruma (born 28 December 1951) is a Dutch writer and editor who lives and works in the United States. In 2017, he became editor of The New York Review of Books, but left the position in September 2018.
Much of his writing has focused on the culture of Asia, particularly that of China and 20th-century Japan. He was the Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College from 2003 to 2017.[1]
From 2003 to 2017, Buruma was Luce Professor of Democracy, Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College in New York City, New York. In 2017, he became editor of The New York Review of Books (NYRB), succeeding founding editor Robert B. Silvers.[7][8]
In September 2018, Buruma left the NYRB position following a dispute about his publication of an essay by Canadian talk show host Jian Ghomeshi. Ghomeshi was acquitted in 2016 of one count of choking and four counts of sexual assault after over 20 women complained either to the police or in the media.[citation needed] The publication of the essay was controversial, in part, because Ghomeshi wrote that the allegations against him were "inaccurate".[10] In an interview with Slate magazine, Buruma defended his decision to publish the piece.[citation needed] He denied that the article was misleading because it had failed to mention that Ghomeshi had been required to issue an apology to one of the victims as part of the terms of a case against him. He also denied that the title, "Reflections from a Hashtag", was dismissive of the #MeToo movement; stated that the movement has resulted in "undesirable consequences"; and said: "I'm no judge of the rights and wrongs of every allegation. ... The exact nature of [Ghomeshi's] behavior – how much consent was involved – I have no idea, nor is it really my concern."[11]
In response to outrage over his defense of the article,[12][13][14] the Review leadership later stated that it had departed from its "usual editorial practices" as the essay "was shown to only one male editor during the editing process", and that Buruma's statement to Slate about the staff of the Review "did not accurately represent their views".[15] More than 100 contributors to the Review, including Joyce Carol Oates and Ian McEwan, signed a letter of protest to express fears that Buruma's exit threatened intellectual culture and "the free exploration of ideas".[16][17][18][19][20]
In 2008, Buruma was awarded the Erasmus Prize, which is awarded to an individual who has made "an especially important contribution to culture, society or social science in Europe".[21] He was included in Foreign Policy magazine's 2010 list of the "100 top global thinkers".[22]
Buruma has been married twice. He and his first wife, Sumie Tani, had a daughter, as did he and his second wife, Eri Hotta.[23][24] Buruma is a nephew of the English film director John Schlesinger, with whom he published a series of interviews in book form.[25]
He argued in 2001 for wholehearted British participation in the European Union because they were the "strongest champions in Europe of a liberal approach to commerce and politics".[26]
Richie, Donald & Ian Buruma (1980). The Japanese Tattoo. Weatherhill.
Buruma, Ian (1983). Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters, Drifters, and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes. New American Library.
Grenzen aan de vrijheid: van De Sade tot Wilders (Limits to Freedom: From De Sade to Wilders) (2010) ISBN978-90-477-0262-7 – Essay for the Month of Philosophy in the Netherlands.
The Churchill Complex: The Rise and Fall of the Special Relationship and the End of the Anglo-American Order. United Kingdom: Atlantic Books. 2020. ISBN978-1-78649-465-8.[c]
The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II, Penguin Random House, 2023.
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