Intellectuals

This essay explores a non-negationist approach to the ‘‘critical’’ by recounting cultural studies’s recent articulation of intellectual work to social movement practice. The academicization of cultural studies is evaluated not as cooptation of criticality, but as subsumption, which creates new platforms for action. Ultimately, Cultural Studies would benefit from its own ‘‘reception study’’ in which its powers to be affected could be enhanced to reconnect it with ongoing popular struggles.

"Was ist eigentlich ein Intellektueller? An Antworten auf diese Frage fehlt es nicht – weder im deskriptiven noch im normativen Sinn. Der erste Teil des Beitrags stellt unterschiedliche Antworten prominenter Intellektuelle des 20. Jahrhunderts auf die Frage, was ein Intellektueller ist oder sein soll, vor. Der zweite Teil des Beitrags versucht, das spezifische Profil des katholischen Intellektuellen zu skizzieren.

What exactly is an intellectual? There is no lack of answers to this question – neither in a descriptive nor in a normative sense. The first part of this article presents various answers of prominent twentieth-century intellectuals to the question of what an intellectual is or should be. The second part tries to outline the specific profile of the Catholic intellectual."

This paper aims to present the most prominent contributions to the creation of a European message for post-communist Romania by the elites that sought exile in France during the tumultuous period of time after 1945. Hence, emphasis has been placed on the accurate identification of the most relevant Romanian voices in this regard, from the point of view of their impact at the European level, such as Monica Lovinescu, Paul Goma, Radu Câmpeanu and Alexandru Herlea. Pertinent observations regarding the individual contribution of each of the abovementioned personalities to the forums of debate concerning the future of Romania have fostered the analysis of both patterns and divergences.

Analiza dedicată structurilor Securităţii şi mecanismelor utilizate de către aceasta în vederea consolidării regimului comunist şi a descurajării fenomenului dizidenţei prezintă o importanţă majoră, în vederea înţelegerii presiunilor dirijate împotriva intelectualilor în România comunistă. Restructurările succesive ale Securităţii nu au adus o umanizare a practicilor acesteia, ci doar persecuţii suplimentare, care au afectat toate categoriile sociale, având repercusiuni inclusiv asupra diasporei române. Plasate în contextul abuzurilor comise de către regimul comunist, instrumentele Securităţii nu fac decât să accentueze o condiţie intelectuală caracterizată de nesiguranţă şi izolare forţată. După Revoluţia din 1989, studierea Arhivelor fostei Securităţi aduce la lumină amploarea acestui serviciu atât de temut.

Examples of past and current empire building are analyzed in this collection of  fourteen articles from a transnational perspective by focusing on the exchange of ideologies and the practices of nation-building, state-power, democracy, and anti-democracy, up to the recent ‘war on terrorism’ so as to expose the roots of empire formation and trace the continuum of empire building in the twenty-first century. Authors: Robert Marzec, Paul Ugor, Hande Tekdemir, Fadwa Gad, Sukanya Gupta, Aishwarya Lakhsmi, Geetha Ganapathy-Doré, Kathleen Flanagan, Vladimir Suchan, Deepa Jani, Gilbert Adair,  Will Harris, Gabrielle Naglieri.

This collection of twelve articles with a preface by Henry Giroux presents new scholarship on the function of public intellectuals in and out of Academe. The function of public intellectuals in producing and disseminating knowledge is scrutinized together with that of power with its ability to oppress, silence and censor. The volume is dedicated to the memory of Howard Zinn. Forthcoming by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.