Frequently scorned and reviled, intellectuals have nevertheless played a vital part in shaping our century. They have done this by performing a variety of roles and responding to the diverse national contexts in which they have operated.
"Intellectuals in" "Politics" assess the significance of intellectuals in shaping the political landscape. An introductory essay detailing the major issues confronting intellectuals is followed by four sections examining different aspects of the intellectual's role. The first section looks at philosophers and academics who have tried to define the role of the intellectual. The second includes essays on Israel, Algeria, Britain and Ireland and explores how the intellectual assumes the statues of conscience of a nation and the voice of the oppressed. The third section examines the interaction among intellectuals and Marxism especially in Eastern Europe. The final section assesses the placeof the intellectuals and their quest for autonomy in American society.
As the epilogue illustrates, the central question raised by this book is: "In whose name and with what authority does the intellectual speak."
Contributors include: Steve Biel, George Cotkin, Davis Schalk

After an introduction to the major issues confronting intellectuals, this book explores the various aspects of the intellectual's role including:
* philosophers and academics who have tried to define the function of the intellectual
* how intellectuals have assumed the status of the conscience of the nation and the voice of the oppressed
* the interaction of intellectuals with Marxism
* the place of the intellectual in American society
Covering regions as diverse as Israel, Algeria, Britain, Ireland, central Europe and America, this collection considers the question of whether the intellectual can still lay claim to the language of truth. In answering, this study tells us much about the modern world in which we live.
Coverage includes the following thinkers: Gramsci, Weber, Yeats, Auden, Levy, Mailer, Walzer, Marx and many more.