Some people look down on “intellectuals” but I for one think it would be cool to become one when I grow up. Can you imagine having that on your business card? I bet I could win any argument on SM if only I was labeled an intellectual. Punks would step-off in a hurry. SM tipster Kanchan sends us Prospect Magazine’s list of the world’s top 100 intellectuals. The Hindustan Times reports on the Indians (I didn’t see any other South Asian candidates on the list):
Amidst brewing criticism, an opinion poll has been launched to select five top intellectuals in the world from a list of 100 names, which include five Indians.The Indians among the world’s leading 100 contemporary public intellectuals are Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, 71, economist and author, Jagdish Bhagwati, economist, Salman Rushdie, 58, novelist and commentator, Fareed Zakaria, 41, editor of Newsweek International and author and Kishore Mahbubani, 57, Singapore-based diplomat and author.
The list which has only 10 women, includes India’s Sunita Narain, 44, developmental environmentalist. The readers’ opinion poll, published by British magazine “Prospect” and American global affairs magazine “Foreign Policy”, closes Oct 10 and results will be declared in November. Readers have also been invited to nominate their own candidates as well.
In its poll definition of public intellectuals “Prospect” and “Foreign Policy” say it is “someone who has shown distinction in their own field along with the ability to communicate ideas and influence debate outside of it.”
“This list is about public influence, not intrinsic achievement. And that is where things get really tricky. Judging influence is hard enough inside one’s own culture, but when you are peering across cultures and languages, the problem becomes far harder. Obviously our list of 100 has been influenced by where most of us sit, in the English-speaking West.”
You can actually go to the website and vote for your five favorite intellectuals. Chomsky’s the early front-runner. It’s sort of like American Idol in that way. It would be cool if they did a final brain battle on live television or something but probably nobody would tune in since intellectuals always get a bad rap. There was that one Simpson’s episode I remember when the intellectuals took control of Springfield only to be overthrown by simpletons. Anyways check out the list. I found it fun to identify pairs that would make for an entertaining intellectual death-match.
But if you become an intellectual, how will you fit your pointy head in your space helmet? 😉
Eurocentric list. Basically they chose from among the people whose books sell well in Britain or the United States (and as such appeal to those audiences). They carefully picked a few Browns and Blacks and women (including a couple of surprises) to ensure that the list was “global” and “representative”. Meaningless…
Camille Paglia and Paul Wolfowitiz? Embarassing.
(Nice to see Umberto Eco, Ha Jin and Mario Vargas Llosa though.)
Basically they chose from among the people whose books sell well in Britain or the United States
well, i guess they could have retitled the list to “english-speaking public intellectuals.” btw, i counted 11 natural scientists. not bad.
Fareed Zakaria is an awesome writer/speaker…. i love it when he shows up on the daily show.
here’s someone who isnt so well known even in sepiate circles, who fits the criteria and has a legitimate claim to be on the list – also, unlike most of the list, he actually walks the talk. Read the whole thing if you have the time – no deification here – and there’s a twist on every page.
I’m quite confused about the definition of Indian here. Kishore Mahbubani is of Indian descent and hence not sure whether we can call him so. If the prize is given the international media will mention that he belongs to Singapore.
Before we take this list too seriously, remember the scene from the classic Mel Brooks’ film, “History of the World Part I” where the scene is ancient Rome, he introduces himself a “stand-up philosopher”, and a Roman bureaucrat immediately responds, “Oh, you’re a bull**** artist.”
Intellectuals have their place, I would just hesitate before putting them in charge of anything.
What a surprise…
Any list that includes Chomsky and Rushdie has to be taken with a mountain of salt.
Rushdie shows up but not Naipaul!
I am happy that Kagan showed up. I also think Kristol & George F. Will deserve to be in the top 10.
I’d pay to watch that video, much more entertaining than anything starring Paris Hilton …
“I also think Kristol & George F. Will deserve to be in the top 10.”
Maybe a US top 10, but globally?
Personally I think Rushdie’s selection is a joke: his “intellectualizing” is almost invariably banal (i.e. he shouldn’t quit his day job).
Kristol and The weekly standard are considered t have major influence on policy in the Bush white house and all of us can agree that the adminstration policy affects the world. So, yes globally atleast as far as Kristol.
George F. will has lost some of his influence but I still think most of today’s intellectuals on the right were heavily influenced by him and Buckley. As the American right wing has a major influence in world affairs I think including him is appropriate.
“Kristol and The weekly standard are considered t have major influence on policy in the Bush white house and all of us can agree that the adminstration policy affects the world.”
Fair point.
Um, yeah. I see Karen Hughes spreading her influence like an incontinent with a drinking problem. A she said in Ankara, “I love all kids. And that is something I have in common with the Turkish people—that they love children.”
Cuz you know who hates children? Evil-doers.
Damn..now that I think about it..I’d pay good money to see that too..
as she said in Ankara..
Anyone else count 6? Or does the woman not count according to the The Hindustan Times?
I see that the mere mention of the other side can get you going. You might not like the influence they have but they do have it!
Now Karen Hughes is neither an intellectual nor is she trying to spread her influence as you stated. She is trying to put a postive face/spin on the American policy. How is she pertinent to the debate ?
But more importantly, what a troglodyte! How dare she travel the world and tell women that driving and voting is important.She should be protesting the the Bush Court nominees like real progressives do.
Kishore Mahbubani was born in Singapore , has lived there his entire life and has worked in the Singapore Civil Service for about 30 years, so I would classify him as Singaporean.
He is of Indian descent. Just like you have Chinese Singaporeans, Malay Singaporeans, British Singaporeans and Eurasian Singaporeans.
Yes, but that’s not the same as being Indian, even if you have a very loose definition of the term, which I do.
Ehrm. How is THAT pertinent to the debate? She is female, yet rightwing – how marvelous for you! So that means any criticism of her must come from those irrelevant feminists who decry any woman who leaves the sisterhood, eh?
By the way, I would consider telling women in other countries that they should vote and drive an attempt to peddle influence of a specific kind yes. A jaw-droppingly naive one since US presence has now destabilized the whole region.
How frightfully fun will those driving tests be?!! 5 points off if you can’t dodge a cluster-bomb!
It is not at all pertinent. I was responding to your earlier mail and also trying to prove that she is not all that bad.
I will have to disgree . I think he should also quite his day job. Did you read Shalimar? I read better writing on this blog.
“A jaw-droppingly naive one since US presence has now destabilized the whole region.”
The region has not been stable for 4000 years.
haha! They (the neocons) DID have a major influence–until others sensibly realized that bringing paradise on earth through wars for democracy was just another hugely untenable cosmic joke. Anyway “End of History” Fukuyama made the cut. He was an inner-circle boy until he wrote that neocon policy served Israel’s interests better than the US.
So long neocons.
George F. will has lost some of his influence but I still think most of today’s intellectuals on the right were heavily influenced by him and Buckley.
Agreed. Isn’t it especially odd to include Kagan and Wolfowitz and leave out Will as though Bush style neo-cons are the only intellectuals on the right today (with the exception of Fukuyama’s inclusion)? Will is THE best columnist in the US today imho.
And I would’ve swapped Naipaul for Rushdie.
He is of Indian descent. Just like you have Chinese Singaporeans, Malay Singaporeans, British Singaporeans and Eurasian Singaporeans.
Mahbubani is a Singaporean whose parents immigrated from Sindh. he wrote a silly little book called “Can Asians Think?” (actually a collection of previously published essays that rationalized Singapore’s dictatorship by maintaining that such a government represented “Asian Values”. This wowed the Clash of Civilization man Huntington, since it fit in so neatly with his thesis. This facilitated visting professorships, OPED page cameos, and all the goodies that come with pleasing the man.
Recently, he wrote a book of advice for (but really a paean to) the United States and its policies.
Cluster-bomb, cicatrix? Uh, what are you talking about? I suppose the women that stood in line and voted in the last Iraqi election would be a perfect target for a cluster bomb, except that, uh, it was the US military protecting them so they could stand in line and vote. Details, details….
And why can’t women drive or vote in Saudi Arabia? Why is it so culturally insensitive to tell it like it is? I think it sucks that women can’t drive or vote in Saudi Arabia. And if a bunch of Saudi women want to tell me that it’s ok, they don’t want to drive anyway, well then I say, why don’t you vote on it and see how all the women feel?
The Iran-Iraq war resulted in what, like, a million lives lost? Now, that’s stability.
I have a slightly different idea. Let them drive if they want to, and not drive if they do not want to.
uh, it was sort of a joke…I guess this isn’t the thread for snark.
I REALLY don’t want to start a flame war here… I’m not quite the liberal my comments might lead some to assume. I just find that this administration forces me to lower my most cynical expectations re opportunistic politics. /rant>