Daily Times

The term public intellectual describes an intellectual who participates in the discourse of public affairs in society, in addition to his or her academic and professional occupation. Regardless of their field of expertise, public intellectuals address and respond to the problems of society and, as such, are expected to be fair and impartial when engaging in the universal issues of truth and judgment or the issues of the time. Edward Said describes the public intellectual as the following: “The real or true public intellectual is therefore always an outsider, living in a self-imposed exile, and on the margins of society. He or she speaks to, as well as for, the public, necessarily in public, and is properly on the side of the dispossessed, the un-represented and the forgotten.”
Historically, public intellectuals vehemently criticised imperialism, oppression and the violation of universal values like truth and justice, wherever such violations occurred. In the modern western era, such public intellectuals were like giants who were held in great esteem by the masses. Their opinion carried a lot of weight as it had the potential of mobilising thousands of citizens behind certain public issues. In the context of the west, well-known 20th century men of letters like Bertrand Russell, George Orwell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus come to mind straight away as public intellectuals. Scientists and artists like Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso were also public intellectuals, as they were public figures who took an interest in the issues of common good and were not afraid to stand up to the authorities. They were all thinkers of immense intellectual prowess who spoke against social evils and abuse of power. They were always independent of authorities and on the side of the oppressed and the vulnerable. In recent years, however, the list of public intellectuals is unfortunately dwindling. The world’s foremost public intellectual still alive is the MIT linguistic professor Noam Chomsky. Unfortunately, he represents a dying breed and there seems to be no one on the horizon to step into his shoes.
In Pakistan, we have perhaps not had a similarly robust tradition of public intellectuals per se. But leftist poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Ahmed Faraz were certainly public intellectuals in their own right. They not only highlighted the miseries of the dispossessed classes in their poetry but also participated in actual political demonstrations against the authorities. They even braved jail terms for the cause of their ideals. Similarly, in today’s Pakistan, Dr Mubarik Ali can truly be called a people’s historian. He has written history from the perspective of the people, challenging the pro-establishment version of history. Dr Pervez Hoodhboy, the famous physicist, can also be considered a public intellectual, as his interest goes much beyond physics. He is against religious fundamentalism and believes in a rational and egalitarian society.
According to Noam Chomsky, “Intellectuals are in a position to expose the lies of governments, to analyse actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions.” Chomsky thus exhorts intellectuals to fulfil their obligation of supporting common public issues and exposing the falsehoods of the authorities. However, public intellectuals worldwide seem to be disappearing.
According to academic and journalist C J Polychroniou, the reason for the diminishing of public intellectuals is that the western world today is dominated by functional and conformist intellectuals whose mission is not to inform the public about social evils and the threat to their freedoms but to enhance their own careers and station in life. They thus support the existing order and dominant power relations. Such conformist intellectuals focus on narrow and highly specialised technical areas; they do not dare to engage in issues of the common folk. Their excuse is that dabbling in these issues is beyond their remit. But the truth is that they are afraid to lose their jobs and grants if they oppose the authorities.
In Pakistan, also, public intellectuals have suffered because of long periods of authoritarian rule and the ascendency of fundamentalism in every sphere of life, which is certainly inimical to critical thinking. The corporatisation of universities and the media has also created a stifling atmosphere for critical intellectuals, as profit becomes the sole purpose behind any form of activity, including intellectual activity.
The decline in the number of public intellectuals worldwide can be attributed to a number of interrelated causes: for one, universities throughout the world have generally abandoned their role of developing compassionate and critically engaged citizens, and only professionals fit for the global market place are being produced. Secondly, with the advent of neo-liberalism as the dominating ideology today, notions of social justice and common good have taken a backseat to crude consumerism and self-aggrandisement. The intellectual elite has been alienated from universal values like truth, justice and peace. Finally, the corporate takeover of mass media has resulted in profit as the sole motive of these media organisations and thus the role of critical opinion has been stymied.
The declining trend of public intellectuals forecasts a bleak future for democracy and its cherished universal values like speaking out against social evils and abuse of power. Today, it seems, we have come a long way from the time when public intellectuals not only challenged the status quo but also struck fear and awe into the hearts of the rulers.

The writer is a freelance columnist