Nader El-Bizri is currently an Affiliated Research Scholar at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and a Research Associate in Philosophy at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Of his scholarly writings, he has recently published The Phenomenological Quest Between Avicenna and Heidegger (GP, Binghamton, 2000).

Jean-Pierre Clero is Professor of Philosophy at L'universitie Rouen et de Paris X. In 2000, he published his book Theorie de la Perception, De l'espace a l'affect (PUF, Paris).

Martin Jay is Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent books are Refractions of Violence (Taylor & Francis, 2003) and Songs of Experience (forthcoming, 2004).

G.K. Karanth is Professor and Head, Sociology Unit at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India. His publications include Challenging Untouchability: Dalit Initiative and Experience from Karnataka

Achille Mbembe is from Cameroon, and is Research Professor in History and Politics at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Senor Researcher at Witwatersrand Instistute for Social and Economic Research (WISER). His latest work is On the Postcolony (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2001).

Ye Shu-Xian is professor of Chinese Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking. He has published A Cultural Interpretation of Lao Tzu.