Michael Hanchard
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195176247
- eISBN:
- 9780199851003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176247.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter explores another dimension of the culture/politics conundrum: the 1990s debates about black public intellectuals in the United States. It places the mid-1990s debates about black public ...
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This chapter explores another dimension of the culture/politics conundrum: the 1990s debates about black public intellectuals in the United States. It places the mid-1990s debates about black public intellectuals within a hemispheric perspective, expanding the contours of its polemics beyond the borders of the United States to illustrate the American part of the discussion of what it means to be a public intellectual, black or otherwise.Less
This chapter explores another dimension of the culture/politics conundrum: the 1990s debates about black public intellectuals in the United States. It places the mid-1990s debates about black public intellectuals within a hemispheric perspective, expanding the contours of its polemics beyond the borders of the United States to illustrate the American part of the discussion of what it means to be a public intellectual, black or otherwise.
Carl Sagan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Carl Sagan is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human ...
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Carl Sagan is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and many other books. His science fiction novel, Contact, was made into a popular, major motion picture in 1997. Sagan is well known for his interests in extra-terrestrial life and is closely linked to the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). As a scientist, Sagan educated the public about “Nuclear Winter”, the idea that a nuclear war could precipitate an unprecedented ice age that might render the Earth largely uninhabitable. Sagan became notorious in certain circles for his forays into religion, which he viewed with skepticism.Less
Carl Sagan is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and many other books. His science fiction novel, Contact, was made into a popular, major motion picture in 1997. Sagan is well known for his interests in extra-terrestrial life and is closely linked to the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). As a scientist, Sagan educated the public about “Nuclear Winter”, the idea that a nuclear war could precipitate an unprecedented ice age that might render the Earth largely uninhabitable. Sagan became notorious in certain circles for his forays into religion, which he viewed with skepticism.
Stephen Jay Gould
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Stephen Jay Gould is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Wonderful Life, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Rocks of Ages, The Mismeasure of Man, and many other books. He is known ...
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Stephen Jay Gould is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Wonderful Life, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Rocks of Ages, The Mismeasure of Man, and many other books. He is known for his theory of punctuated equilibrium, stating that the equilibrium of a species is punctuated by episodes of change that are relatively rapid in geological time, and for his analysis of the “relationship” between science and religion, which he suggested should be a cordial non-relationship. He called this scheme of contented co-existence non-overlapping magisteria or NOMA. Gould’s peace-making efforts have not met with widespread approval and, in fact, have been widely criticized. However, Gould has correctly noted that science and religion do occupy two very different spheres of human experience. He is also known in popular culture for his appearance on The Simpsons and his enthusiasm for baseball.Less
Stephen Jay Gould is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Wonderful Life, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Rocks of Ages, The Mismeasure of Man, and many other books. He is known for his theory of punctuated equilibrium, stating that the equilibrium of a species is punctuated by episodes of change that are relatively rapid in geological time, and for his analysis of the “relationship” between science and religion, which he suggested should be a cordial non-relationship. He called this scheme of contented co-existence non-overlapping magisteria or NOMA. Gould’s peace-making efforts have not met with widespread approval and, in fact, have been widely criticized. However, Gould has correctly noted that science and religion do occupy two very different spheres of human experience. He is also known in popular culture for his appearance on The Simpsons and his enthusiasm for baseball.
Richard Dawkins
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Richard Dawkins is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The Ancestor’s Tale, The God Delusion, and many other books. Dawkins, known as an ...
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Richard Dawkins is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The Ancestor’s Tale, The God Delusion, and many other books. Dawkins, known as an evolutionist and materialist, is also well known for being an atheist and anti-religious. He has become an outspoken foe of religion, using science to discredit religious beliefs. Many serious theologians find Dawkins’ reaction to religion naïve, unfounded, and puzzling in terms of both its ferocity and its origins. Dawkins remains active as an important cultural voice, but his vision of both science and religion is one that many find inadequate and unsettling, strangely archaic in a post-modern world.Less
Richard Dawkins is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The Ancestor’s Tale, The God Delusion, and many other books. Dawkins, known as an evolutionist and materialist, is also well known for being an atheist and anti-religious. He has become an outspoken foe of religion, using science to discredit religious beliefs. Many serious theologians find Dawkins’ reaction to religion naïve, unfounded, and puzzling in terms of both its ferocity and its origins. Dawkins remains active as an important cultural voice, but his vision of both science and religion is one that many find inadequate and unsettling, strangely archaic in a post-modern world.
Edward O. Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Edward O. Wilson is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of On Human Nature, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Biophilia, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, and many other books. Wilson ...
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Edward O. Wilson is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of On Human Nature, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Biophilia, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, and many other books. Wilson is also a world authority on ants. In 1990, in collaboration with the German biologist Bert Hölldobler, Wilson published the Pulitzer prize-winning The Ants, a massive work of 732 beautifully illustrated pages. Moving beyond ants, he has expanded into the study of social insects, social animals, and human beings. Wilson is also known as an environmentalist and for his work in evolutionary psychology.Less
Edward O. Wilson is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of On Human Nature, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Biophilia, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, and many other books. Wilson is also a world authority on ants. In 1990, in collaboration with the German biologist Bert Hölldobler, Wilson published the Pulitzer prize-winning The Ants, a massive work of 732 beautifully illustrated pages. Moving beyond ants, he has expanded into the study of social insects, social animals, and human beings. Wilson is also known as an environmentalist and for his work in evolutionary psychology.
H. S. Jones
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265871
- eISBN:
- 9780191772030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265871.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
E. A. Freeman is best remembered as an historian, but he was also an extensive contributor to the ‘higher journalism’ of the mid-Victorian period. Yet his prolific journalistic output has never ...
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E. A. Freeman is best remembered as an historian, but he was also an extensive contributor to the ‘higher journalism’ of the mid-Victorian period. Yet his prolific journalistic output has never attracted sustained attention from historians. This essay analyses the relationship between Freeman’s historical work and his journalism in order to explore his place in Victorian intellectual life. It asks how far his journalism was reliant upon an authority derived from his distinction as an historian. While Freeman drew rather promiscuously on a number of analytically distinct ways of understanding the relationship between history and politics, he responded to accusations of ‘antiquarianism’ and ‘historical-mindedness’ by clarifying what he saw as the role of the historian in public life. Since history, he thought, would inevitably be deployed in political controversy, the important thing was that historical error should be expunged in order to clarify political issues.Less
E. A. Freeman is best remembered as an historian, but he was also an extensive contributor to the ‘higher journalism’ of the mid-Victorian period. Yet his prolific journalistic output has never attracted sustained attention from historians. This essay analyses the relationship between Freeman’s historical work and his journalism in order to explore his place in Victorian intellectual life. It asks how far his journalism was reliant upon an authority derived from his distinction as an historian. While Freeman drew rather promiscuously on a number of analytically distinct ways of understanding the relationship between history and politics, he responded to accusations of ‘antiquarianism’ and ‘historical-mindedness’ by clarifying what he saw as the role of the historian in public life. Since history, he thought, would inevitably be deployed in political controversy, the important thing was that historical error should be expunged in order to clarify political issues.
Justine Lacroix and Kalypso Nicolaïdis (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199594627
- eISBN:
- 9780191595738
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199594627.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Political Theory
While the European Union looms large in contemporary political science, intellectual debates across Europe on the normative foundations for integration have received less attention. This book focuses ...
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While the European Union looms large in contemporary political science, intellectual debates across Europe on the normative foundations for integration have received less attention. This book focuses in on the visions and interpretations of European integration proposed since the early 1990s by “public intellectuals”, i.e. political philosophers, scholars, editors or writers whose opinions contribute to framing public attitudes. How is the European Union framed in national intellectual debates? How is the evolving European polity conceived? Do national debates cross‐pollinate, or are they discrete entities each speaking their own language? In answer to these questions, the book develops a comparison between intellectual narratives of European integration across twelve nation‐states — including founding and newer EU members as well as non‐member states — and frames this with chapters reflecting on the echoes and discords across borders. This book thus takes on the debate on unity versus plurality that has long plagued Europe; it ultimately suggests that narrative diversity — both within each country and across borders — is not just an asset but a necessity in a Europe built by the processes of “contestatory democracy” and collective legitimation. At a time when Europe is struggling to define not only its geographical borders but also new cultural, religious and social identities, this book argues that normative homogeneity is by no means a prerequisite for union. Rather, the intellectual “polyphony” of narratives demonstrated by this book should be celebrated and cultivated as a foundation for a new model of European democracy.Less
While the European Union looms large in contemporary political science, intellectual debates across Europe on the normative foundations for integration have received less attention. This book focuses in on the visions and interpretations of European integration proposed since the early 1990s by “public intellectuals”, i.e. political philosophers, scholars, editors or writers whose opinions contribute to framing public attitudes. How is the European Union framed in national intellectual debates? How is the evolving European polity conceived? Do national debates cross‐pollinate, or are they discrete entities each speaking their own language? In answer to these questions, the book develops a comparison between intellectual narratives of European integration across twelve nation‐states — including founding and newer EU members as well as non‐member states — and frames this with chapters reflecting on the echoes and discords across borders. This book thus takes on the debate on unity versus plurality that has long plagued Europe; it ultimately suggests that narrative diversity — both within each country and across borders — is not just an asset but a necessity in a Europe built by the processes of “contestatory democracy” and collective legitimation. At a time when Europe is struggling to define not only its geographical borders but also new cultural, religious and social identities, this book argues that normative homogeneity is by no means a prerequisite for union. Rather, the intellectual “polyphony” of narratives demonstrated by this book should be celebrated and cultivated as a foundation for a new model of European democracy.
Steven Weinberg
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Steven Weinberg is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe, Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist’s Search for the ...
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Steven Weinberg is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe, Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature, Glory and Terror: The Coming Nuclear Danger, and many other books. Weinberg is known for being an atheist and anti-religious, and for winning the Nobel Prize in physics for his electroweak interaction theory, showing how the weak nuclear interaction related to electromagnetism in 1979. Weinberg joined the small scientific army waging war on religion. His book, Dreams of a Final Theory, written to rally support for the supercollider, contains a powerful assault on God and religion, making one wonder about the connection.Less
Steven Weinberg is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe, Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature, Glory and Terror: The Coming Nuclear Danger, and many other books. Weinberg is known for being an atheist and anti-religious, and for winning the Nobel Prize in physics for his electroweak interaction theory, showing how the weak nuclear interaction related to electromagnetism in 1979. Weinberg joined the small scientific army waging war on religion. His book, Dreams of a Final Theory, written to rally support for the supercollider, contains a powerful assault on God and religion, making one wonder about the connection.
Stephen Hawking
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen ...
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Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained, and many other books. Hawking is a cosmologist who is well known for his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He first published his no-boundary proposal in 1970, concerning the expansion of the universe and the big bang, and he introduced his rather technical ideas at the Vatican in 1981, where he also was able to meet and speak with Pope John Paul II. Hawking dislikes the label “atheist”, for his views on God are quite mysterious, and he has written of his quest to “know the mind of God”.Less
Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained, and many other books. Hawking is a cosmologist who is well known for his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He first published his no-boundary proposal in 1970, concerning the expansion of the universe and the big bang, and he introduced his rather technical ideas at the Vatican in 1981, where he also was able to meet and speak with Pope John Paul II. Hawking dislikes the label “atheist”, for his views on God are quite mysterious, and he has written of his quest to “know the mind of God”.
Andrew C. Dole
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195341171
- eISBN:
- 9780199866908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341171.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter summarizes the results of the reconstruction of Schleiermacher's account of religion and applies this reconstruction to contemporary discussions of Schleiermacher and of the study of ...
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This chapter summarizes the results of the reconstruction of Schleiermacher's account of religion and applies this reconstruction to contemporary discussions of Schleiermacher and of the study of religion. Following a set of answers to the question “what is religion according to Schleiermacher?” the chapter discusses three themes in Schleiermacher interpretation. The first of these has to do with how religion originates historically; the second, with the relationship between religion and politics; and the third, with religion as an object of study. Finally, the chapter argues that Schleiermacher should be regarded as a patron of the academic study of religion during a time when its future was in doubt and argues further that attempts to apply the benefits of the study of religion to the public sphere stand in continuity with the practical component of Schleiermacher's theology.Less
This chapter summarizes the results of the reconstruction of Schleiermacher's account of religion and applies this reconstruction to contemporary discussions of Schleiermacher and of the study of religion. Following a set of answers to the question “what is religion according to Schleiermacher?” the chapter discusses three themes in Schleiermacher interpretation. The first of these has to do with how religion originates historically; the second, with the relationship between religion and politics; and the third, with religion as an object of study. Finally, the chapter argues that Schleiermacher should be regarded as a patron of the academic study of religion during a time when its future was in doubt and argues further that attempts to apply the benefits of the study of religion to the public sphere stand in continuity with the practical component of Schleiermacher's theology.
Robert A. Beauregard
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226297255
- eISBN:
- 9780226297422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226297422.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter explores the extent to which planning theorists are connected to intellectual debates outside the field. The premise is that such engagements legitimize planning as an activity that ...
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This chapter explores the extent to which planning theorists are connected to intellectual debates outside the field. The premise is that such engagements legitimize planning as an activity that deserves scholarly recognition and a place in universities. The work of four planning theorists is used to illustrate the way in which theorists use the literature within planning and beyond it to develop their arguments. The chapter ends with a discussion of the potential for planning theorists to become public intellectuals.Less
This chapter explores the extent to which planning theorists are connected to intellectual debates outside the field. The premise is that such engagements legitimize planning as an activity that deserves scholarly recognition and a place in universities. The work of four planning theorists is used to illustrate the way in which theorists use the literature within planning and beyond it to develop their arguments. The chapter ends with a discussion of the potential for planning theorists to become public intellectuals.
Khairudin Aljunied
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474408882
- eISBN:
- 9781474430432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474408882.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter looks at selected Muslim public intellectuals who have actively promoted cosmopolitan attitudes among Muslims in Southeast Asia. These public intellectuals are academics in universities ...
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This chapter looks at selected Muslim public intellectuals who have actively promoted cosmopolitan attitudes among Muslims in Southeast Asia. These public intellectuals are academics in universities and social commentators who write books and essays calling for cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims in their countries. The chapter discusses the ideas of three prominent cosmopolitan Muslim public intellectuals: Chandra Muzaffar, Azyumardi Azra, and Hussin Mutalib. It focuses on three of the critical concepts that pervade their active writing and advocacy careers: Qur'anic justice, ‘Islam Nusantara’ (Southeast Asian Islam), and Islamic assertiveness — concepts which push the boundaries of thinking about Muslim cosmopolitanism in Southeast Asia.Less
This chapter looks at selected Muslim public intellectuals who have actively promoted cosmopolitan attitudes among Muslims in Southeast Asia. These public intellectuals are academics in universities and social commentators who write books and essays calling for cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims in their countries. The chapter discusses the ideas of three prominent cosmopolitan Muslim public intellectuals: Chandra Muzaffar, Azyumardi Azra, and Hussin Mutalib. It focuses on three of the critical concepts that pervade their active writing and advocacy careers: Qur'anic justice, ‘Islam Nusantara’ (Southeast Asian Islam), and Islamic assertiveness — concepts which push the boundaries of thinking about Muslim cosmopolitanism in Southeast Asia.
G.A. Bremner and Jonathan Conlin (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265871
- eISBN:
- 9780191772030
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265871.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was one of the founding fathers of the discipline of academic history in Britain, known to medievalists in particular on account of his multi-volume History of the ...
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Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was one of the founding fathers of the discipline of academic history in Britain, known to medievalists in particular on account of his multi-volume History of the Norman Conquest (1867–79). He was also known in his own time as an influential thinker on empire and federalism, as well as a fierce and acerbic critic of all things relating to history and politics. As his most famous quote ‘history is past politics, politics present history’ demonstrates, Freeman had a way of collapsing barriers of time and a gift for making his readers feel part of history rather than merely its student. Today he is regularly cited with respect to scholarly debates over British identity and historical method. In the thirty years since John Burrow and Arnaldo Momigliano first addressed it in the 1980s, the tension between Freeman’s attention to constitutional institutions on the one hand and racial character on the other has divided scholars. In the absence of a modern biography, however, gaining the full measure of Freeman’s thought has been difficult: his lifelong interests in architecture and antiquarianism in particular have been sidelined. This volume is the first attempt to bring Freeman the medievalist, political commentator, religious thinker, and student of architecture together. Freeman emerges from this analysis as a leading public intellectual of his age.Less
Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was one of the founding fathers of the discipline of academic history in Britain, known to medievalists in particular on account of his multi-volume History of the Norman Conquest (1867–79). He was also known in his own time as an influential thinker on empire and federalism, as well as a fierce and acerbic critic of all things relating to history and politics. As his most famous quote ‘history is past politics, politics present history’ demonstrates, Freeman had a way of collapsing barriers of time and a gift for making his readers feel part of history rather than merely its student. Today he is regularly cited with respect to scholarly debates over British identity and historical method. In the thirty years since John Burrow and Arnaldo Momigliano first addressed it in the 1980s, the tension between Freeman’s attention to constitutional institutions on the one hand and racial character on the other has divided scholars. In the absence of a modern biography, however, gaining the full measure of Freeman’s thought has been difficult: his lifelong interests in architecture and antiquarianism in particular have been sidelined. This volume is the first attempt to bring Freeman the medievalist, political commentator, religious thinker, and student of architecture together. Freeman emerges from this analysis as a leading public intellectual of his age.
Cecelia Tichi
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469622668
- eISBN:
- 9781469625065
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622668.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book examines Jack London's (1876–1916) campaign for progressive reform throughout a career spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A prolific author known for his ...
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This book examines Jack London's (1876–1916) campaign for progressive reform throughout a career spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A prolific author known for his best-selling fiction such as The Call of the Wild (1903), London exerted great leverage for social change in a crucial moment of American history. Through published essays and public speeches, he made the case for a socialism that “attempts to make a better world for the human.” From his early twenties until his death, London compiled a formidable database of books, pamphlets, and newspaper and magazine articles filled with his own commentary about issues ranging from politics and religion to race, women's concerns, labor strikes, health, tax policy, and warfare. This book investigates the role of London's extraordinary files—estimated at 50,000—as the foundational basis of his career as both a writer and public intellectual. It considers London's revelations about the miseries and injustices of the contemporary American scene—and about the urgent need for reform.Less
This book examines Jack London's (1876–1916) campaign for progressive reform throughout a career spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A prolific author known for his best-selling fiction such as The Call of the Wild (1903), London exerted great leverage for social change in a crucial moment of American history. Through published essays and public speeches, he made the case for a socialism that “attempts to make a better world for the human.” From his early twenties until his death, London compiled a formidable database of books, pamphlets, and newspaper and magazine articles filled with his own commentary about issues ranging from politics and religion to race, women's concerns, labor strikes, health, tax policy, and warfare. This book investigates the role of London's extraordinary files—estimated at 50,000—as the foundational basis of his career as both a writer and public intellectual. It considers London's revelations about the miseries and injustices of the contemporary American scene—and about the urgent need for reform.
Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748626014
- eISBN:
- 9780748670673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748626014.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
The challenge to democratic ideals forms the basis of this chapter, framed within the broader crisis in intellectual life explored in Chapters 5 and 13 of this volume by Kevin Mattson and Martin ...
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The challenge to democratic ideals forms the basis of this chapter, framed within the broader crisis in intellectual life explored in Chapters 5 and 13 of this volume by Kevin Mattson and Martin Halliwell. Taking texts by George Cotkin, Russell Jacoby and Sven Birkerts as starting points, in this essay the author, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, considers the roots of the perceived decline in intellectual culture in the face of bureaucratic and market imperatives. The chapter considers the place of the public intellectual within a period of diminished possibilities and calls for a renewal of social criticism based on a revitalization of democratic politics and a sense of common purpose. The discussion concludes with a survey of other contemporary trends in the fields of globalization, religion, medicine, technology and environmentalism that indicate that social criticism takes many shapes and contours in the early twenty-first century, and serves to map out the second section of this volume.Less
The challenge to democratic ideals forms the basis of this chapter, framed within the broader crisis in intellectual life explored in Chapters 5 and 13 of this volume by Kevin Mattson and Martin Halliwell. Taking texts by George Cotkin, Russell Jacoby and Sven Birkerts as starting points, in this essay the author, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, considers the roots of the perceived decline in intellectual culture in the face of bureaucratic and market imperatives. The chapter considers the place of the public intellectual within a period of diminished possibilities and calls for a renewal of social criticism based on a revitalization of democratic politics and a sense of common purpose. The discussion concludes with a survey of other contemporary trends in the fields of globalization, religion, medicine, technology and environmentalism that indicate that social criticism takes many shapes and contours in the early twenty-first century, and serves to map out the second section of this volume.
Cecelia Tichi
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469622668
- eISBN:
- 9781469625065
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622668.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Jack London (1876–1916) found fame with his wolf-dog tales and sagas of the frozen North, but this text challenges the long-standing view of London as merely a mass-market producer of potboilers. A ...
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Jack London (1876–1916) found fame with his wolf-dog tales and sagas of the frozen North, but this text challenges the long-standing view of London as merely a mass-market producer of potboilers. A onetime child laborer, London led a life of poverty in the Gilded Age before rising to worldwide acclaim for stories, novels, and essays designed to hasten the social, economic, and political advance of America. In this major reinterpretation of London's career, the book examines how the beloved writer leveraged his written words as a force for the future. Tracing the arc of London's work from the late 1800s through the 1910s, the text profiles the writer's allies and adversaries in the cities, on the factory floor, inside prison walls, and in the farmlands. Thoroughly exploring London's importance as an artist and as a political and public figure, the book brings to life a man who merits recognition as one of America's foremost public intellectuals.Less
Jack London (1876–1916) found fame with his wolf-dog tales and sagas of the frozen North, but this text challenges the long-standing view of London as merely a mass-market producer of potboilers. A onetime child laborer, London led a life of poverty in the Gilded Age before rising to worldwide acclaim for stories, novels, and essays designed to hasten the social, economic, and political advance of America. In this major reinterpretation of London's career, the book examines how the beloved writer leveraged his written words as a force for the future. Tracing the arc of London's work from the late 1800s through the 1910s, the text profiles the writer's allies and adversaries in the cities, on the factory floor, inside prison walls, and in the farmlands. Thoroughly exploring London's importance as an artist and as a political and public figure, the book brings to life a man who merits recognition as one of America's foremost public intellectuals.
Nadia Kiwan
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781784994129
- eISBN:
- 9781526150509
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7765/9781526144270
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
Through its focus on secular Muslim public intellectuals in contemporary France, this book challenges polarizing accounts of Islam and Muslims, which have been ubiquitous in political and media ...
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Through its focus on secular Muslim public intellectuals in contemporary France, this book challenges polarizing accounts of Islam and Muslims, which have been ubiquitous in political and media debates for the last thirty years. The work of these intellectuals is significant because it expresses, in diverse ways, an ‘internal’ vision of Islam which demonstrates how Muslim identification and practices successfully engage with and are part of a culture of secularism (laïcité). The study of individual Muslim secular intellectuals in contemporary France thus takes seriously the claim that the categories of religion and the secular are more closely intertwined than we might assume. This monograph is a timely publication which makes a crucial contribution to academic and political debates about the place of Islam and Muslims in contemporary France. The book will focus on a discursive and contextualised analysis of the published works and public interventions of Abdelwahab Meddeb, Malek Chebel, Leïla Babès, Dounia Bouzar and Abdennour Bidar - intellectuals who have received little scholarly attention despite being well-known figures in France.Less
Through its focus on secular Muslim public intellectuals in contemporary France, this book challenges polarizing accounts of Islam and Muslims, which have been ubiquitous in political and media debates for the last thirty years. The work of these intellectuals is significant because it expresses, in diverse ways, an ‘internal’ vision of Islam which demonstrates how Muslim identification and practices successfully engage with and are part of a culture of secularism (laïcité). The study of individual Muslim secular intellectuals in contemporary France thus takes seriously the claim that the categories of religion and the secular are more closely intertwined than we might assume. This monograph is a timely publication which makes a crucial contribution to academic and political debates about the place of Islam and Muslims in contemporary France. The book will focus on a discursive and contextualised analysis of the published works and public interventions of Abdelwahab Meddeb, Malek Chebel, Leïla Babès, Dounia Bouzar and Abdennour Bidar - intellectuals who have received little scholarly attention despite being well-known figures in France.
William A. Callahan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199549955
- eISBN:
- 9780191720314
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549955.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, International Relations and Politics
Summarizes the main points of China: The Pessoptimist Nation, and draws conclusions about what China's identity – security dynamic means for the United States and the EU, before looking at how ...
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Summarizes the main points of China: The Pessoptimist Nation, and draws conclusions about what China's identity – security dynamic means for the United States and the EU, before looking at how China's public intellectuals are thinking about the future. It argues that rather than finding the core of “Chinese nationalism,” the book shows how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings that intertwine China's domestic and international politics, and national security with nationalist insecurities. The book concludes that Chinese identity grows out of a dynamic of reciprocal influence that integrates official policy and popular culture. This interactive view of China's pessoptimist identity means that we need to rethink the role of the state and public opinion in Beijing's foreign policy‐making. The party‐state's pessoptimist structure of feeling actually narrows the possibilities for what it means to be Chinese by promoting a contentious paradigm of international politics. The book ends with a brief consideration of how China's opinion‐makers are thinking about their country's future – and the world's future.Less
Summarizes the main points of China: The Pessoptimist Nation, and draws conclusions about what China's identity – security dynamic means for the United States and the EU, before looking at how China's public intellectuals are thinking about the future. It argues that rather than finding the core of “Chinese nationalism,” the book shows how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings that intertwine China's domestic and international politics, and national security with nationalist insecurities. The book concludes that Chinese identity grows out of a dynamic of reciprocal influence that integrates official policy and popular culture. This interactive view of China's pessoptimist identity means that we need to rethink the role of the state and public opinion in Beijing's foreign policy‐making. The party‐state's pessoptimist structure of feeling actually narrows the possibilities for what it means to be Chinese by promoting a contentious paradigm of international politics. The book ends with a brief consideration of how China's opinion‐makers are thinking about their country's future – and the world's future.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846312458
- eISBN:
- 9781846316081
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781846312458.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter explores the recurrent aversion of left-wing public intellectuals in France to meaningful engagements in cultural policy processes during the Fifth Republic. It examines the reasons for ...
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This chapter explores the recurrent aversion of left-wing public intellectuals in France to meaningful engagements in cultural policy processes during the Fifth Republic. It examines the reasons for this recurrent aversion and then surveys the modes in which certain intellectuals have become implicated in policy formation.Less
This chapter explores the recurrent aversion of left-wing public intellectuals in France to meaningful engagements in cultural policy processes during the Fifth Republic. It examines the reasons for this recurrent aversion and then surveys the modes in which certain intellectuals have become implicated in policy formation.
Jeffrey J. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823263806
- eISBN:
- 9780823266432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823263806.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter questions the rise of the figure of the public intellectual in the 1990s. It suggests that, in some instances, intellectuals are used for advertising for the corporate university, rather ...
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This chapter questions the rise of the figure of the public intellectual in the 1990s. It suggests that, in some instances, intellectuals are used for advertising for the corporate university, rather than for engagement in public activism.Less
This chapter questions the rise of the figure of the public intellectual in the 1990s. It suggests that, in some instances, intellectuals are used for advertising for the corporate university, rather than for engagement in public activism.
