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Book synopsis

This 1998 book provides a sophisticated alternative to existing accounts of the role of the intellectual in modern democracy. Arguing that society suffers from a systemic deliberation deficit, Jeffrey Goldfarb explores the potential of the intellectual as democratic agent, at once civilizing political contestation and subverting complacent consensus. The sentimental Leftist view of the intellectual as guardian of democracy and the demonising Rightist view of the intellectual as obstructor of progress, are both shown to be flawed. Instead, intellectuals are portrayed as special kinds of 'strangers' who pay careful attention to their critical faculties, equipping them uniquely to address the most pressing issues of today. Professor Goldfarb deploys classical and contemporary social theory to analyse a diverse set of intellectuals in action, from Socrates in fifth-century Athens to Malcolm X and Toni Morrison in twentieth-century America, and, drawing on personal acquaintance, the political dissidents in Communist and post-Communist Central Europe.

Book details

Book category Books in English Society & social sciences Politics & government Political structure & processes

• Full title: Civility and Subversion
• Subtitle: The Intellectual in Democratic Society
• Author: Jeffrey C. Goldfarb
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardback
• Number of pages: 264
• EAN: 9780521622202
• ISBN: 0521622204
• ID: 02037824
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Weight: 555 g
• Dimensions: 229 × 152 × 19 mm
• Date of publishing: 12. November 1998

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