For over twenty-five years Noam Chomsky's prolific political intervention has enlightened and inspired radicals while enraging their opponents in the halls of power. Beginning with a concise biography of his subject, Milan Rai presents a sympathetic yet probing analysis of Chomsky's critique of US media and foreign policy and his vision of a libertarian socialist future. Drawing on the entire range of Chomsky's prodigious output, including little-known interviews and articles, Rai examines Chomsky's assault on journalistic self-censorship and business control of the mass media. He shows how Chomsky challenges the US view of itself as a defender of democracy and equal rights by uncovering the hidden motivations of its foreign policy makers. Rai draws out features of Chomsky's outlook that are sometimes obscured by a rapid coverage of a wide range of issues. In particular, he emphasizes the importance of Chomsky's cultural critique in his ordering of political priorities. Accessible and comprehensive, Chomsky's Politics serves as an excellent introduction for those confronting Chomsky's critique for the first time. For those already familiar with his work it corrects some widespread misunderstandings, provides new insights, and chronicles the extraordinary contribution of a writer described by the New York Times as ""one of the most important intellectuals alive.""
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Besides being perhaps the most important living linguist, Noam Chomsky has also for the past 25 years been a leading political commentator and critic. In this role he has been somewhat less influential, if for no other reason than that the media powers that be have consistently shunned him. His political books (latest count: more than 20) are not reviewed in the major papers and even NPR avoids him. So the picture of Chomsky's political philosophy this book provides is a useful one, focusing especially on his assault on journalism's self-censorship and corporate control of the mass media, areas well illustrated by Chomsky's own career. And we learn that Chomsky, far from being a strident elitist, aims to reach the "vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent," and is known to reply to letters from strangers within days in voluminous but polite single-spaced detail.
About the Author
Milan Rai worked with Noam Chomsky in 1993 and is an independent researcher in the peace movement.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
From Apology to Beatification,
This review is from: Chomsky's Politics (Paperback)
Given Chomsky's non-engagement with contemporary understandings of power and democratic culture at variance with his own, which he claims not to understand, a "critical introduction to the string of books and articles which have followed Chomsky's decision to become engaged" (p. 18) in political activity would be a valuable contribution. This is the precisely the characterization that independent peace researcher Milan Rai gives in the Introduction to Chomsky's Politics, with, however, an odd disclaimer: "nothing that follows should be taken, or is intended, as a summary or an assessment of Chomsky's political work as a whole" (p. 18). Rai does address and even summarize Chomsky's political work in its entirety, but, as noted, without, assessing it. Consequently, it is unclear how it is critical. Rai's treatment of Chomsky ranges only from apology to beatification. Chomsky's Politics does little to address criticisms, other than those resulting from simple misunderstanding, and works best as a sympathetic introduction to its subject. However, Rai's ability to clarify Chomsky's views is sharply limited by his failure to contrast them to alternative understandings of modern democratic power. Rai insists that Chomsky is a cultural critic, all the while giving the impression that he is fundamentally a theorist of powerful hierarchal institutions, albeit a thoughtful and committed one.
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