The Responsibility of Intellectuals, Redux: Using Privilege to Challenge the State

The Responsibility of Intellectuals, Redux: Using Privilege to Challenge the State
Noam Chomsky revisits his classic 1967 essay, illustrating the various ways “intellectuals” have been defined in the twentieth century in relation to the interests of state power. Although technocrats who support power are generally praised by the intellectual mainstream—while “value-oriented” intellectuals who oppose authority and challenge state policy are often dismissed as eccentrics or condemned as criminals— Chomsky’s scathing indictment of U.S. foreign policy exhibits the moral courage of a public intellectual willing to reject conformity and speak the truth. Read the article…
Published by The Boston Review, September/October 2011