Public Intellectuals. This item is unavailable.Public Intellectuals

Public Intellectuals: An Endangered Species? investigates the definition, role, and decline of public intellectuals in American society. Drawing from a wide range of commentaries and studies, this edited volume demonstrates the unique importance of public intellectuals and probes the timely question of how their voices can continue to be effective in our ever-changing social, academic and political climates. At a time when many argue that public intellectuals are dying out, the book addresses questions such as who qualifies as a public intellectual? Have their ranks thinned out and their qualities diminished? What is that special service that public intellectuals are supposed to render for the body politic? And, above all, is society being shortchanged?

Amitai Etzioni is University Professor at George Washington University. He is the author and editor of many influential books, including The Spirit of Community and The New Golden Rule. Alyssa Bowditch is an executive assistant at the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies.