The Chomsky Effect

November 28, 2009 17:00

Published: November 20, 2009 16:43 by Housmans Bookshop |

Published by group: Housmans Bookshop
Tagged as:

Places: king's_cross

Noam Chomsky

_________________________________________

Housmans – radical booksellers since 1945
_________________________________________

‘The Chomsky Effect’
with Robert F. Barsky
Saturday 28th November – 5pm to 6.30pm
_________________________________________


"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, ground-breaking 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 his subject'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.

_______________________________________

Event information

Housmans Bookshop
5 Caledonian Road
King's Cross
London N1 9DX
Tel: 020 7837 4473

Free entry
Nearest tube: King's Cross

www.housmans.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 7837 4473
shop email: shop@housmans.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/2oq9vv

"Support the shop that supports your campaigns!"

To receive Housmans’ monthly events newsletter with all our events, please email nik[at]housmans.com and mark the subject ‘subscribe to newsletter’.

Contact email: nik@housmans.com

---