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Distributed for UCL Press

Responsibility of Intellectuals

Reflections by Noam Chomsky and Others after 50 years

1st Edition

Distributed for UCL Press

Responsibility of Intellectuals

Reflections by Noam Chomsky and Others after 50 years

1st Edition

With the publication of “The Responsibility of Intellectuals,” Noam Chomsky burst onto the US political scene as a leading critic of the war in Vietnam. Privilege, he argues, brings with it the responsibility to tell the truth and expose lies, but our intellectual culture only pays lip service to this ideal. The essay has been described as the “single most influential piece of anti-war literature” of the Vietnam war period. Since then, Chomsky has continued to equip a growing international audience with the facts and arguments needed to understand—and change—our world. According to the New York Times, Chomsky “may be the most widely read American voice on foreign policy on the planet today.”

This book revisits “The Responsibility of Intellectuals” half a century later. It includes six new essays written to celebrate Chomsky’s famous intervention and explore its relevance in today’s world. Nicholas Allott, Chris Knight, Milan Rai, and Neil Smith have studied and written about Chomsky’s thought for many years, while Craig Murray and Jackie Walker describe the personal price they have paid for speaking out. The book concludes with Chomsky’s recollections of the background to the original publication of his essay, followed by extensive commentary from him on its fiftieth anniversary.
 

142 pages | 6.14 x 9.21 | © 2019

Free digital open access editions are available to download from UCL Press.


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Table of Contents

"Introduction: ‘The Responsibility of Intellectuals’: What it does and does not say
Nicholas Allott
Remarks on the historical context of the essay ‘The Responsibility of Intellectuals’
Noam Chomsky
1 Reflections on Chomsky’s ‘The Responsibility of Intellectuals’
Neil Smith and Amahl Smith
2 ‘I Don’t Want No Peace’– a Black, Jewish activist’s take on the responsibility of intellectuals
Jackie Walker
3 The responsibility of intellectuals in the era of bounded rationality andDemocracy for Realists
Nicholas Allott
4 The propaganda model and the British nuclear weapons debate
Milan Rai
5 Speaking truth to power – from within the heart of the empire
Chris Knight
6 The abdication of responsibility
Craig Murray
7 Replies and commentary
Noam Chomsky
8 Conference Q&A
Noam Chomsky"

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