by RFBarsky (Author)
Noam Chomsky as political gadfly, groundbreaking scholar, and intellectual guru: key issues in Chomsky's career and the sometimes contentious reception to his ideas. People are dangerous. If they're able to involve themselves in issues that matter, they may change the distribution of power, to the detriment of those who are rich and privileged. -Noam Chomsky Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chavez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter-voted most important public intellectual in the world today in a 2005 magazine poll-Chomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation. In The Chomsky Effect, Chomsky biographer Robert Barsky examines Chomsky's positions on a number of highly charged issues-Chomsky's signature issues, including Vietnam, Israel, East Timor, and his work in linguistics--that illustrate not only the Chomsky effect but also the Chomsky approach. Chomsky, writes Barsky, is an inspiration and a catalyst. Not just an analyst or advocate, he encourages people to become engaged-to be dangerous and challenge power and privilege. The actions and reactions of Chomsky supporters and detractors and the attending contentiousness can be thought of as the Chomsky effect. Barsky discusses Chomsky's work in such areas as language studies, media, education, law, and politics, and identifies Chomsky's intellectual and political precursors. He charts anti-Chomsky sentiments as expressed from various standpoints, including contemporary Zionism, mainstream politics, and scholarly communities. He discusses Chomsky's popular appeal-his unlikely status as a punk and rock hero (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is one of many rock and roll Chomskyites)-and offers in-depth analyses of the controversies surrounding Chomsky's roles in the Faurisson Affair and the Pol Pot Affair. Finally, Barsky considers the role of the public intellectual in order to assess why Noam Chomsky has come to mean so much to so many-and what he may mean to generations to come.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 16 Oct 2009
ISBN 10: 0262513161
ISBN 13: 9780262513166
Book Overview: The Chomsky Effect by Robert Barsky is a magnificent book showing Chomsky as the leading linguist of our time; the philosopher whose analytic powers and prophetic vision are unparalleled, yet matched only by his moral and ironic outrage which draws intellectual blood from his adversaries. Barsky's significant accomplishment is to add his deep learning in the history of comparative ideas and popular culture with his own incisive and readable accounts of crucial intellectual and political battles that dictate the present and probable future. A wonderful read. -- Marcus Raskin, Co-founder, Institute for Policy Studies, and Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, George Washington University Robert Barsky succeeds in uniting the various strands in Chomsky's career teaching, political theory, philosophy, and public debate. Chomsky s success constitutes definitive proof that an intellectual can be an activist and that every society needs a Socrates to shame it. Barsky has produced a work of homage to learning and to personal courage. -- Julius H. Grey, Constitutional lawyer, former member of McGill Faculty of Law This is the book I'd recommend to anyone who is looking for exhaustive coverage of ways to Chomsky's work. -- Carlos P. Otero Professor Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles, and author of Noam Chomsky: Critical Assessments
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