The Responsibility of Intellectuals: Reflections by Noam Chomsky and Others after 50 years

With the publication of ‘The Responsibility of Intellectuals’ half a century ago, 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 on. 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 finishes with Chomsky’s recollections of the background to the original publication of his essay, followed by extensive commentary from him on its 50th anniversary. Praise for The Responsibility of Intellectuals 'While the book does not have a conclusion telling readers what we can learn from all this it does close with Noam Chomsky saying ‘an intellectual presupposes a certain amount of privilege. Privilege confers obligations and responsibility, automatically’ (p. 119). Intellectuals and perhaps even academics should keep this in mind. These obligations and responsibilities should be directed toward ending suffering as defined by what the Latin-American ethics philosopher Enrique Dussel calls the community of victims (Klikauer, 2014). Ending suffering is the ethical and intellectual duty of those who call themselves intellectuals.' Australian Universities Review  " 'The Responsibility of Intellectuals' is a collection of essays subtitled 'Reflections by Noam Chomsky and others after 50 years'. Although there are similar themes running through the essays, they need to be read and analysed individually. Most of them express admiration for Chomsky’s activism or political viewpoint, but each represents the individual author’s work or thoughts." The Weekly Worker "The six essays in this book, complemented by Chomsky’s own replies and commentary during a question-and-answer session held at a University College London conference in 2017, explore what has changed over the last half century and assess the role of the intellectual in our contemporary Orwellian world, where revealing truth has to contend with newspeak and fake news." The Morning Star "Now 90 years old, Noam Chomsky remains one of the best-known intellectuals and critics of American foreign policy in the world. One of his first major interventions, from the time of the Vietnam War, was his celebrated essay “The Responsibility of Intellectuals”. At least for those sympathetic to his politics, it remains a classic statement of the case for academics and others to speak truth to power and to resist the ever-present pressures and temptations of being co-opted. The essay formed the subject of a conference at UCL marking its 50th anniversary in 2017, at which activists and academics explored what we can still learn from it as well as where it needs rethinking. The results have now been published in a collection, edited by Nicholas Allott, Chris Knight and Neil Smith, The Responsibility of Intellectuals: Reflections by Noam Chomsky and Others after 50 Years..." Times Higher Education '... a rich collection ... and one of the most remarkable essays is ['The abdication of responsibility'] by Craig Murray.'   Labour Briefing Read more