Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy (The American Empire Project)

by Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian

Overview

In a compelling new set of interviews, Noam Chomsky identifies the “dry kindling” of discontent around the world that could soon catch fire.

In wide-ranging discussions with David Barsamian, his longtime interlocutor, Noam Chomsky asks us to consider “the world we are leaving to our grandchildren”: one imperiled by climate change and the growing potential for nuclear war. If the current system is incapable of dealing with these threats, he argues, it’s up to us to radically change it.

The twelve interviews in Global Discontents examine the latest developments around the globe: the rise of ISIS, the reach of state surveillance, growing anger over economic inequality, conflicts in the Middle East, and the presidency of Donald Trump. In personal reflections on his Philadelphia childhood, Chomsky also describes his own intellectual journey and the development of his uncompromising stance as America’s premier dissident intellectual.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250146182
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	12/05/2017
Series:	American Empire Project
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,058,661
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Noam Chomsky is the author of numerous bestselling political works, including Hegemony or Survival and Failed States. A laureate professor at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, he is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He lives in Tuscon, Arizona.

David Barsamian is the award-winning founder and director of Alternative Radio, an independent syndicated radio program. In addition to his ten books with Noam Chomsky, his works include books with Tariq Ali, Howard Zinn, Edward Said, Arundhati Roy, and Richard Wolff. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Table of Contents

1. State Spying and Democracy

2. A Tour of the ­Middle East

3. Power Systems Do Not Give Gifts

4. ISIS, the Kurds, and Turkey

5. Living Memory

6. Fearmongering

7. Alliances and Control

8. The Roots of Conflicts

9. ­Toward a Better Society

10. Elections and Voting

11. Crises and Organizing

12. The Trump Presidency

Editorial Reviews

10/16/2017
Every page of this lively, probing, and sharp collection delivers a searing observation from linguist and political-thinker Chomsky. In the 12 interviews, conducted with Chomsky between June 2013 and January 2017 by Alternative Radio host Barsamian, Chomsky speaks with his characteristic matter-of-factness about pressing issues, including climate change, the Trump presidency, and democracy. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan may have “wrapped his proposals in spreadsheets so they would look wonkish to commentators,” but they amount, Chomsky says, to effectively ending the federal government. He dismantles in a few sentences the deception inherent in television commercials: because “everyone produces the same products,” “you have to compensate by fraudulent product differentiation.” He skewers the “double standards” by which the U.S. judges itself and other countries, cannily arguing that this really amounts to a single standard: if others commit a crime against the U.S., it’s a crime; if the U.S. does the same against others, it’s justified. As he prepares to turn 89, Chomsky supplements his trenchant political critiques with lighter-hearted advice on living a long life: “If you’re riding a bicycle and you don’t want to fall off, you have to keep going—fast.” These incisive interviews illustrate that Chomsky still pedals faster than most other social commentators today. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

2017-09-28
The well-known left-wing intellectual holds forth on global developments of the past five years, from Edward Snowden's disclosures on government surveillance to Donald Trump's efforts to "make America great again."At age 88, Chomsky (Emeritus, Linguistics and Philosophy/MIT; Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power, 2017, etc.) retains his provocative edge in this latest collection of conversations with Boulder-based broadcaster Barsamian (Alternative Radio), who first interviewed the dissenter more than 30 years ago. While occasionally offering personal glimpses—as when recalling his days among émigrés in the secondhand bookshops of New York in the 1930s and '40s—Chomsky homes in on the "questionable" assumptions of American society, which "ought to be challenged and interrogated." There are seemingly countless examples: "criminalization of drugs has been a societal disaster"; "corporations are not benevolent institutions"; "politicians are tapping elements of irrationality that are almost beyond description." In a dozen interviews, the perennial provocateur discusses state surveillance, the Islamic State group, income inequality, fearmongering, the Middle East, voting, and the importance of organizing to effect change. "If a technology is available," he writes, "a system of power is going to make use of it." No matter the topic, he consistently manages to view contemporary events in historical context. As in his many earlier books (Power Systems, 2013, etc.), Barsamian gives us "Chomsky lite," a taste of the activist's thinking that undoubtedly leads to deeper reading. The interviewer's evident knowledge of Chomsky and the issues allows him to steer the conversations in intriguing ways. Amid rising threats to democracy, Chomsky points to his source of hope: "people who are dedicated, who are struggling, often against really tremendous odds—not like us—to create decent spaces for existence and a better world."Well-informed salvos to please or enrage, depending on one's politics.

Kirkus Reviews