BOOKS
INTELLECTUALS AND THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY by Carl Boggs
SUNY Press, 1995
This book explores the role of intellectuals in politics and social change from pre-industrial societies to the present. Its theoretical structure, influenced by the work of Antonio Gramsci, revolves around six distinct types of intellectual activity. The rise and later development (also decline) of specific types of intellectual activity is analyzed within the historical context of industrialization, technological rationalization, shifting social forces, and the emergence of modern popular movements.
“Carl Boggs’ book is an excellent rethinking of the problematic role of intellectuals in the modern world in light of developments within contemporary capitalist societies and the collapse of Soviet Communism. Boggs has mastered a wide range of literature and provides a new account of intellectuals in the historical context of our period. It is extremely well written and organized, the scholarship comprehensive and penetrating, the analysis clear and innovative. Boggs’ writing style is particularly fluid, his book accessible to a wide readership.
Douglas Kellner
Department of Philosophy, University of Texas
“Carl Boggs’ book is an excellent rethinking of the problematic role of intellectuals in the modern world in light of developments within contemporary capitalist societies and the collapse of Soviet Communism. Boggs has mastered a wide range of literature and provides a new account of intellectuals in the historical context of our period. It is extremely well written and organized, the scholarship comprehensive and penetrating, the analysis clear and innovative. Boggs’ writing style is particularly fluid, his book accessible to a wide readership.
Douglas Kellner
Department of Philosophy, University of Texas