Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

by Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel (Editor), R. Mitchell (Editor)

A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (The New York Times). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's recent talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power. In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions, all published here for the first time, Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during Vietnam to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and the decline of domestic social services, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Understanding Power offers a sweeping critique of the world around us and is definitive Chomsky. Characterized by Chomsky's accessible and informative style, this is the ideal book for those new to his work as well as for those who have been listening for years.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, Economics, Sociology, Political Science

416 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

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

[Ahmad Abdul Rahim]

Membaca buku ini, baru aku sedar bagaimana mampu aku kategorikan Noam Chomsky.

Bagi aku, spektrum golongan kiri vs kanan adalah tidak relevan untuk digunapakai bagi Chomsky. Satu sebab adalah spektrum sebegitu terlalu relatif sehinggakan hampir tidak membawa apa2 makna. Sebab yang lain adalah Chomsky mengajukan bentuk2 soalan yang sebegitu common sense bagi kalangan masyarakat demokrasi. Idea2 utama beliau boleh dikatakan sebagai truisms dalam demokrasi. Ibarat mengatakan malam adalah ketiadaan matahari; tiada posisi kiri atau kanan mampu diambil dalam hal itu.

Jadi cuba kita mulakan dengan idea model propaganda yang disebutkan oleh Chomsky dan Ed Herman dalam buku Manufacturing Consent. Di dalamnya Chomsky dan Herman mengkaji bagaimana sistem media mencipta propaganda yang menayangkan kemahuan dan matlamat syarikat korporat. Masalah tersebut adalah masalah sistemik dalam media massa di mana syer, saham dan peratus pemilikan majoritinya adalah dipegang oleh syarikat multinasional dan korporat.

Semua orang tahu kan? Penyumbang duit terbanyak dialah pemegang kuasa sebenar.

Perkara sebegini hampir tidak disebut dalam media arus perdana. Perbincangan yang cuba mengarah ke dalam topik ini akan cepat2 dicampak ke dalam tong-tong berlabel teori konspirasi (walaupun mana2 budak berumur 8 tahun boleh memahami dengan mudah isu ini).

Kesarjanaan sebenar Chomsky dan Herman dalam hal ini (bagi aku) adalah memberikan gambaran realistik tentang proses indoktrinasi yg berlaku. Lagipun jurnalis, wartawan yang bertugas sebagai wakil2 dan jurucakap syarikat2 gergasi media massa pun manusia lagipun (satu lagi truism). Mereka juga berpegang kepada etika kewartawanan, dan setia pada kebenaran, serta percaya dengan nilai2 demokrasi.

Cumanya Chomsky membongkarkan bagaimana wujudnya penapis2 dalaman yg terkandung dalam sistem itu sendiri: hanya jurnalis/wartawan/editor yg sudah tertanam dengan nilai2 yg diterima oleh Sistem tersebut berjaya ditapis. Antara kaedah dimana jurnalis/wartawan/editor spt mereka2 yg bertugas di New York Times dan WSJ cuba untuk mengindoktrinasi masyarakat dalam sebuah negara demokrasi adalah dengan membingkaikan isu2 mengikut jalur2 pendapat yg diterima oleh Sistem. Masyarakat lantas mendapat ilusi bahawa mereka sedang membuat pilihan atas keputusan mereka sendiri. Walhal terdapat banyak lagi pilihan/points of view (PoV) yang tidak dibentangkan. Seringkali pilihan/PoV yg diketepikan itu disorokkan kerana ia langsung bertentangan dengan Sistem tersebut; malah mencabar keabsahan Sistem tersebut.

Contoh dalam isu Perang Vietnam, pilihan yang diberikan adalah "Adakah patut tentera Amerika kekal di Vietnam atau pulang ke tanahair?"

Perhatikan bagaimana wacana tersebut mengenepikan persoalan2 lain seperti "apa hak Amerika untuk berada di situ?", "siapa yang menerima keuntungan terbesar dalam perang tersebut (jawapannya: industri militari)" dll.

Kaedah interogatif Chomsky-esque sebegini sudah tentu adalah common di zaman kini. Kini The Guardian, Independent atau AJE more-or-less memakai bentuk kewartawanan yg serupa. Bagi aku itu mengisyaratkan bagaimana kaedah wacana Chomsky begitu persuasif dan berpengaruh. Aku percaya kaedah pengajuan soalan oleh Chomsky adalah inspirasi terutama bagi kebangkitan portal2 berita yg kritikal itu tadi. Barang diingat Chomsky adalah intelektual terawal yg menyatakan bangkangan beliau terhadap Perang Vietnam. Dan mobilisasi bantahan rakyat Amerika berlaku hanyalah selepas 5 tahun berlangsungnya Perang Vietnam. Itupun bantahan yg disuarakan masih berkisar tentang kuasa/ekonomi spt "Perang ini terlalu merugikan" etc.

Contoh yg aku berikan mungkkn terlalu panjang. Mesej yang aku cuba sampaikan adalab mudah:

Chomsky adalah pemikir yg wacananya paling praktis pernah aku jumpa. Setiap aktivis yg cuba untuk mengahwinkan aspek teori dan praktik perlu membacanya. Chomsky juga kemungkinan adalah intelektual awam yang paling konsisten dan rasional pegangannya pernah aku kaji. Dia sedar bahawa kepercayannya kepada amal demokrasi dan idea kebebasan manusia membawa maksud bahawa kuasa tidak patut dipusatkan kepada mana2 entiti. Kuasa sepatutnya diagihkan seluasnya supaya ia mewakilkan suara2 dengan saksama.

Atas sebab itu aku tiada bantahan dengan cara Chomsky mendefinisikan dirinya: anarchist, syndicalist dan libertarian.

[Achmad Lutfi]

Memahami makna dibalik power dalam pengertian kekuasaan. Memberi kesadaran bahwa power itu memiliki keluasan dalam lingkup kehidupan manusia. Siapapun perlu untuk tahu lebih jauh tentang kenyataan dan kejadian di dunia melalui pengertian power dalam buku ini.