Chomsky for Activists

Noam Chomsky is one of the most cited scholars in history and among the best known public intellectuals in the world today. He is the author of more than 100 books; the most recent include Requiem for the American Dream, and The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth and Power, Before coming to the University of Arizona as Laureate Professor of Linguistics in 2017, Chomsky taught linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 50 years. Charles Derber, Professor of Sociology at Boston College is a noted public intellectual and author of twenty-five books, including several best-sellers reviewed in the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and other prominent media. His recent books include Welcome to the Revolution, Moving Beyond Fear, and Glorious Causes. Co-editor of the Routledge book series, Universalizing Resistance, Derber is a life-long activist for peace and justice. Suren Moodliar is editor of the journal Socialism and Democracy and coordinator of encuentro5, a movement-building space in downtown Boston. He is a co-author of A People's Guide to Greater Boston (UC Press, 2020). Paul Shannon worked for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) for 40 years where he ran the national film library and was active in various peace, union, prison reform, economic justice and international solidarity movements. Now retired, he serves as a volunteer with the AFSC, teaches courses on the Vietnam war, writes, and continues his intersectional organizing around the Yemen war, the military industrial complex, climate change, criminal justice issues, and regime-change wars. He is a board member of Mass. Peace Action and The Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security.

"It is heartening to hear Chomsky’s steady voice come through these interviews and writings — radical, analytic, and prophetic. Chomsky for Activists is the tonic we need in troubled times to peel away the illusions and fuel our fight for democracy, justice and economic equality."Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies, author, The Wealth Hoarders and Born on Third Base."Some people get to know the thinking of Noam Chomsky by listening to his presentations. But in this book you, the reader, have the opportunity to get to know the thinking of Chomsky in a different way. Through interviews as well as his commentaries, the reader gets a sense of the 'comprehensive' Chomsky. It is not just what he thinks but how he approaches the challenges facing the contemporary Left and progressive movements in the USA that makes this a compelling volume. This book is of additional value in identifying where the reader may agree and disagree with Chomsky, but nevertheless appreciate his invaluable insight. It was both a great honor and opportunity to have been asked to preview this volume in order to suggest to you, the potential reader, my encouragement that you embrace this work. You will not regret it!"Bill Fletcher, Jr., executive editor, globalafricanworker.com, former president of TransAfrica Forum.

• CHOMSKY FOR ACTIVISTSTABLE OF CONTENTSPART 1: REFLECTIONS ON A LIFE OF ACTIVISM1 How It All Got Started2 Stories of Global ActivismPART II MOVEMENTS MATTER Coming Together: Organizing for Survival with Justice Enhanced Exploitation: The Neoliberal Project Identity Politics and Class Politics: Common Interests, Labor and Collective Action Activists and Evangelicals: Organizing Across the Cultural Divide Identity, Intersectionality and Universalizing Resistance Activism and Fascism: Then and Now Activists, Movements and Electoral Politics: The Critique of Anti-Trumpism Activism in the Age of Extinction The Movement and Third Parties Overcoming Isolation and Powerlessness: Movements and Community PART III 100 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT:CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE, WAR AND PANDEMICS IN THE TRUMP ERAPART IVREFLECTIONS FROM ACTIVISTS