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Title: Radical Priorities by Noam Chomsky, C.P. Otero ISBN: 1-902593-69-3 Publisher: AK Press Pub. Date: 15 June, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Even better than before
Comment: This collection offers Chomsky's usual knowledge and analysis of a wide variety of social and political topics. A large amount of the material was written in the 1980s, although this new expanded edition brings the book's scope all the way up through 2003. Readers approaching Chomsky for the first time may want to start with his book Understanding Power, but for those familiar with the subject matter this is a valuable and very welcome collection.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Good Backgrounder to Chomsky's political work before 1981.
Comment: Most readers will not, and should not, come to know Chomsky's political writing via this book. For those seeking an introduction to Chomsky's political writing, Deterring Democracy, The Chomsky Reader, and Manufacturing Consent, are the volumes I would most recommend.
"Radical Priorites" added more dimension to my already developed appreciation of Chomsky's writing. It is a collection of abstracts from Noam's political writing roughly encompassing the period from 1966 to 1980. What follows is a list of the attributes that primarily give the book its unique flavour and somewhat specialist appeal among all the works in the Chomsky canon.
1. The introductory essay by editor Carlos P. Otero is one of the most comprehensive discussions of the theory and political vision underlying Chomsky's critiques. Otero's essay touches on most of the major Chomsky themes, the propaganda function of media in "democratic" societies, the veneer of "objectivity" in liberal scholarship, the responsibility (and the lack of it) of intellectuals, to name a few. But Otero goes further than most in trying to elucidate the underlying humanistic vision of Chomsky. He discusses Chomsky's views on human nature, libertarianism and liberalism, socialism and capitalism, authority, anarchosyndicalism, grass-roots democracy and activist strategy. Since in most of his works Chomsky is reticent about the broader philosophical underpinnings, this book, as well as Powers and Prospects, is of tremendous benefit to those who are interested in such matters.
2. Many of Chomsky's published works prior to the mid-eighties can be difficult to find. The excerpts in "Radical Priorities" can help one get a sense of Chomsky's writings during major conflicts such as Viet Nam and East Timor, as they transpired.
3. Included in this volume are more excerpts that give an indication of Chomsky's political vision than practically any other Chomsky book. Some representative titles of the excerpts are: "industrial self-management", "libertarian socialism", "industrial society and anarchism", "the 'moderate' position", "fantasies of the left", "waste production and international dominance", and "Scientists of the world, unite!."
All in all, this book serves as an inspiring testament to radical humanism, and the vision underlying it.
Rating: 2
Summary: For specialists only
Comment: I have read half a dozen of Chomsky's mainstream political works (Culture of Terrorism, Necessary Illusions, etc.) and picked up Radical Priorities hoping for more of the same interesting stuff. Reading Chomsky usually requires a fair amount of patience and attention, but this book is at least twice as dense and circuitous as the others I'd read. The intent here seems to be to settle even further down into the details of the facts of particular incidents he is discussing; the effect is thorny and inaccessible writing. This is super if you're doing research on a particular topic, but not if you're looking to understand more of Chomsky's wider view of history and politics. (I'd start with Necessary Illusions if you're looking for an intro to his work, by the way...)
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Title: Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (The American Empire Project) by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 0805074007 Publisher: Metropolitan Books Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Toward a New Cold War: Essays on the Current Crisis and How We Got There by Noam Chomsky, John Pilger ISBN: 1565848594 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Masters of Mankind : Essays on the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy by Noam Chomsky, Mark Pavlick ISBN: 1567512569 Publisher: Common Courage Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 1565848586 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: For Reasons of State by Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy ISBN: 1565847946 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: 15 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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