The Responsibilities of Privilege: an Interview with Noam Chomsky on the Role of the Public Intellectual

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10767-016-9218-6.The interview below was conducted on January 16th 2015. The purpose of this research is to understand how Professor Noam Chomsky became a prominent public intel-lectual. In particular, it explores his early political interventions, and his own reflections on his role within the anti-Vietnam War movement. Furthermore, it explores Chomsky’s insights into the responsibilities and privileges that intellectuals are afforded within socie-ty. In this respect, the interview contributes to the sociological literature aimed at under-standing the role that academics can play outside of the ivory tower