Intellectuals and public life : between radicalism and reform / edited by Leon Fink, Stephen T.Leonard, Donald M. Reid.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Fink, Leon, 1948-

Leonard, Stephen T., 1954-

Reid, Donald, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Intellectuals--Political activity.

Intellectuals.

Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

xii, 327 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1996.

Summary:

Combining history with social theory, this book offers a bold reassessment of the role of radical intellectuals in public life. It explores the potential impact of intellectuals working for social and political change and is important for everyone concerned with such contemporary issues as the future of higher education, the transformation of the public intellectual in Western and non-Western societies, the collapse of socialism, and the paralysis of liberalism. Illuminating many facets of the relationship between the life of the mind and the life of action, these interdisciplinary essays consider diverse aspects of the role of intellectuals in revolutionary movements, state-centered reforms, and colonial and postcolonial settings. After discussions of how the intellectual as a social type has acquired its politically charged character, chapters are devoted to radical thinkers in England, Germany, Russia, and France. The place of intellectuals in the United States is explored in essays on Progressive liberalism, labor reform, women's rights, and the work of W. E. B. Du Bois. The book concludes with essays on the significance of liberation theology and the ideology of the Chinese student protest movement of 1989.

Notes:

Based on the work of an interdisciplinary graduate seminar sponsored by the Program in social theory and cross-cultural studies at the University of North Carolina.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0801427940

OCLC:

32970412