Language and Politics

by Noam Chomsky, Carlos Otero (Editor)

An enormous chronological collection of over fifty interviews conducted with Chomsky from 1968 to present day. Many of the pieces have never appeared in any other collection, some have never appeared in English, and more than one has been suppressed. This expanded edition contains fifty pages of brand new interviews. The interviews add a personal dimension to the full breadth of Chomsky’s impressive written canon—equally covering his analysis in linguistics, philosophy, and politics. This updated, annotated, fully indexed new edition contains an extensive bibliography, as well as an intro-duction by editor Carlos Otero on the relationship between Chomsky’s language and politics. Praise for previous "For those who know [Chomsky] only as media analyst and critic of foreign policy, this wide-ranging book offers glimpses of his studies on language, anarchist theory, and critiques of radical politics."—NACLA Noam Chomsky is a renowned scholar, the founder of the modern science of linguistics, a philosopher, a poli-tical and social analyst, a media critic, and author of more than one hundred books. Recipient of numerous prizes and awards, Chomsky ranks with Marx, Shakespeare and the Bible as one of the ten most quoted sources in the -humanities. His previous works include the best selling 9-11, and the critically acclaimed AK Audio Collection. Carlos Otero , who also edited Radical Priorities by Noam Chomsky, teaches linguistics at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Genres: Politics, Linguistics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Language, History, Essays

850 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a pretty good attempt at merging the two things Noam Chomsky talks about incessantly. The book sticks primarily to the familiar question-answer format, where Chomsky is either with the interviewer face to face, or is responding to questions in writing. The two disappointments I have are that there is a lot of repetition, sometimes in consecutive chapters/interviews. The repetitions made me question whether or not I was rereading pages and interviews, or even if the book had printing mistakes. Alas, the problem lies in the fact that so many interviews that happen at the same time likely cause Chomsky to repeat himself on certain topics. The other issues stems from the first problem. At 784 pages, this book is a pain in the ass to carry around and read because it is so big. I don't mind being that guy on the bus who is reading the anarcho-syndicalist tome on politics and language because I obviously am reading it for all the ladies to check out the size and shape of my parietal bone, but I do mind being that guy who reads books that take so long to read that he forgets what the first few chapters were about. I should just stop reading these perennial tomes and go back to playing video games.

Having said all of this negative stuff, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the bits about linguistics. Sometimes Chomsky can get so deep into the specialized knowledge thing that he's basically speaking another language.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five stars for the ideas, three for the collection.
Probably best for the Noamaphile completist, this massive collection of interviews will seem like a lot of retread for those who are familiar with Chomsky's thought and political critiques. In fact, there is a lot of redundancy even within the selections themselves, which tends to make it tedious at times. Keep in mind, you're basically reading scores of interviews with people asking Chomsky pretty much the same over and over again...and him giving pretty much the same answer all the time.
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone coming to Chomsky's linguistic or social ideas for the first time, either. You can easily pick up one of his own works and get the same basic stuff.

[Mr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is an impressive gathering of interviews collected from the early sixties to the present. In it, the Professor gives some of his best long-range insights on a number of topics, such as linguistics, philosophy, science, politics, the Middle East, the media, and education. This volume is not the place to start if you are new to Chomsky's work, but it is an excellent supplement to his famous writings. As to the interviews themselves, they are mostly fascinating, Chomsky proves once again that he may be the most important intellectual of the latter half of the 20th century. My one complaint is that some of the interviews overlap, as he is asked to speak multiple times on a number of topics, he is asked what the conncection between his linguistic work and his political work is about twenty times for instance, as the title would suggest. Aside from that, this is an invaluable read.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

wrapped things up with noam chomsky's LANGUAGE AND POLITICS - i think it a great intro to chomsky, lots of interviews with him from 1968 to the recent present, covering his work in linguistics and moving more into politics, in particular, US foreign policy from vietnam to iraq and more.

there were a few interviews mid-way through the book where i felt the subject got stuck on repeat, but otherwise this was a most readable and intelligent view of all things politic regarding this country and how it views and relates to other countries. and all the while, language plays in the foreground. glad to have found it.

[Renee]

Every time I read or listen to Chomsky I find myself vacillating between agreement so deep it feels like I've somehow been influenced by its ideas already and a serious skepticism about some of his linguistics-based assumptions as they apply to broadly political questions. He's essential to navigate but impossible to rate on first pass.

[Cassie Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skip Sasse and read this

[A YOGAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieser Gratulationsband des Philo Verlags widmet sich dem Spannungsfeld von Chomskys Denken zwischen Sprache und Politik. Er versammelt exemplarische – teils zuvor nicht ins Deutsche übertragene – Schriften aus den späten 1960er-Jahren bis in die Gegenwart, darunter den berühmten Aufsatz Some Tasks for the Left von 1969. Ziel des Bandes ist es, die Vielfalt und den inneren Antrieb von Chomskys Werk sichtbar zu machen – für Leserinnen und Leser, die ihn vielleicht nur als Linguisten, nicht aber als politischen Philosophen, nur als libertären Sozialisten, nicht aber als scharfzüngigen Analytiker westlicher Machtstrukturen kennen.
Ich selbst war an diesem Projekt insofern beteiligt, als ich eine kleine Gebühr von 10 bis 20 DM entrichtete, um als Gratulant im Band genannt zu werden – für mich damals ein stiller Akt intellektueller Selbstständigkeit. Noam Chomsky (geb. 1928), emeritierter Professor für Linguistik und Philosophie am Massachusetts Institute of Technology und Begründer der generativen Transformationsgrammatik, verbindet seit jeher seine sprachwissenschaftliche Arbeit mit kritischen Analysen wirtschafts- und medienpolitischer Entwicklungen. Im selben Jahr erschien bei Philo zudem sein Buch „Haben und Nichthaben“.

[Tatiana Friar McDermott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noam Chomsky writes with a steady, unwavering gaze—one that doesn’t flinch from uncomfortable truths but offers them with a kind of quiet respect for the reader’s intelligence. His political work doesn’t shout; it teaches. Gently, but relentlessly, he pulls back the curtain on systems of power, showing how language, media, and institutions shape what we believe and how we act.

What lingers most is not just what he says, but how deeply he seems to care—for truth, for justice, and for those left unheard by dominant narratives. Chomsky doesn’t give easy solutions, but he does give us clarity. He offers a map through the fog of disinformation, encouraging us not to lose heart, but to stay alert, stay kind, and stay engaged. His politics, at their core, are about responsibility—not just to ideas, but to each other.

[Doug Brunell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is essential reading. Chomsky is misunderstood and maligned by many (most of whom haven't read a single thing he's written). He's been called a communist (incorrect), a socialist (incorrect), a denier of the Holocaust (incorrect), and more. This book should set the record straight on many things. Naysayers, of course, will stay away from its nearly 800 pages, but that is not surprising.

Covered within these interviews are Chomsky's views on language, the Middle East, Vietnam, the U.S. government, the Soviet Union, oil, and much more. Spanning decades, this is an incredibly comprehensive look at one of the most quoted men in the world.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is most striking about this collection of interviews is how consistent Chomsky has been over the past 50+ years in terms of his principles and his thinking in both political matters and linguistics. An interview with Chomsky in the year 2020 is essentially the same as an interview with him in the year 1988.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting over-all look into his theories of language and thought and its structure, also, alot of uncomfortable views on American foreign policy and interior propaganda apparatus

[A YOGAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einzelheiten zu diesem Gratulationsband entnehme man hier:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...