Chomsky on Anarchism [ペーパーバック]

"Chomsky on Anarchism" is a collection of writings and interviews with Noam Chomsky that addresses the topic of anarchism. Arranged in chronological order and spanning over five decades, the essays provide an unique perspective on Mr. Chomsky's intellectual development into one of today's most influential and prominent critics of capitalism. The book demonstrates that anarchist theory has significantly influenced Mr. Chomsky's thought, revealing a side of Mr. Chomsky that is often implied but infrequently made explicit in his writings.

Among the eleven works, I found "Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship" (1969) to be a particularly appealing critique and discussion of the Vietnam War and the anarchist society that emerged briefly in Spain during its Civil War in the 1930s. Here, Mr. Chomsky displays at a relatively early point in his career the qualities for which he would become famous; his biting satire and devastating deconstruction of the powerful, in this case directed at the false justifications for the war in Vietnam and the West's non-support for Spanish democracy, provides many thought-provoking and timeless truisms.

"Containing the Threat of Democracy" (1990) is another noteworthy piece in that it exemplifies a mature writer who has a masterful command of history, social theory and criticism. Mr. Chomsky brilliantly draws on Enlightenment thought to critique how the powerful have used the force of law to enable the rule of the few over the many, with a wide-ranging discussion of how Western elitism has resulted in genocide, war and repression under the guise of civilization. We learn how the business class has allied with the government to use propaganda to serve their mutual interests and mold public opinion, thereby allowing poverty and violence to persist and preventing a more meaningful form of democracy to emerge.

Mr. Chomsky directly addresses anarchism in response to questions from several interviewers. Citing Daniel Guerin as a major influence, Mr. Chomsky explains that anarchism requires structure at the local, national and international levels but is characterized by its lack of a central authority. Mr. Chomsky believes that developing a successful anarchist society will require time and experimentation; he also contends that state intervention will be necessary to ensure a successful transition from capitalist rule to absolute democracy. Ultimately, Mr. Chomsky makes a strong argument that humanity will gain mightily from solving the problem of authoritarian oppression and applying its collective wisdom to the positive task of building an anarchist society grounded in the principles of peace, freedom and equality for all.

I'm not sure what some of the reviewers are talking about. Unlike much of the Chomsky material published these days, there is a significant amount of new material in this book. "New" at least in the sense that it's never been published before, or has never been published in English (there's one essay that was published in Ljubljana in 1986 and an amazing Brazilian interview from 1996). I'm a huge fan of Chomsky. I read his work wherever I can find it, but I haven't seen at least five of the chapters in this book...and several of the others aren't all that common.

But the real point is that, taken together, these essays and interviews provide a truly fascinating and seldom seen side of a social critic who, admittedly, sometimes seems to be making the same point (however important) over and over. This book is Noam Chomsky at his most exciting: thinking about the possibilities for alternative social forms, rather than simply critiquing the one we've got.

Highly recommended!

I bought this book because I was interested in learning about anarchism as well as Noam Chomsky. Before this book, I had only heard snippets of Chomsky's critical views of the US and capitalist society in general. I was unaware of what type of society he did support. I also had recently heard several people talk about anarchism, which I had previously (and ignorantly) thought of as nothing more than chaos. This book was a good introduction to both the topic and the author. I learned what Mr. Chomsky stands for, rather than just what he stands against. He discusses anarchism and "libertarian socialism" as the ideal form of government to insure freedom and liberty, while being critical of capitalism and totalitarian socialism. He has certainly sparked my interest in anarchism and compelled me to investigate further. My only complaint is that the first half of the book seems more like an apologist essay for the communist North Vietnamese than anarchism. Nevertheless, the second half of the book was worth the purchase price.