An Interview with Noam Chomsky by Doug Richardson 1
There are there are. More seats on the sides over here so just just kind of move move in that direction okay we're going to get started I'll stand up for a minute okay okay we're going to get started please take your seat. How wonderful to have Noam Chomsky back here with. This will be our third interview between the two of us one of them a long time ago in 1974 and focused mostly on anarchism and and other current ills in society. That that were then wide-ranging now we're visiting again with. Another wave of turbulence and and and problematic issues but there's a lot to be gained from discussing these as lot to begin to find hopeful ways forward paths through the ticket and so forth and that's what we'll be mostly discussing today for the three or four people out there who don't know Nam Chomsky I'm going to give an introduction in terms quote in terms of the power range novelty and influence of his thought Noam Chomsky is arguably arguably the most important intellectual alive today I'm delighted.
That he could be here to join. Us in Boston for a special session entitled a conversation with Noam Chomsky. This session will be a conversational interview followed by an opportunity for our audience participation to Q&A; what do you think is this a good ideat to use resume writing service like this - https://finditcareer.com/best-resume-writing-services-near-my-location for writting a resume. I have used it twice.
. Most geographers know of Chomsky is written and lectured widely on linguistics philosophy intellectual history contemporary issues international affairs and us foreign policy a small sampling of his numerous publications include the book. That I was first introduced to him by American power and the new mandarins then a lot of linguistics works including Cartesian linguistics and a number of political books well over a hundred books. I think for reasons of state the political economy of human rights and power and ideology language and the problems of knowledge profit over people new horizons in the study of language in mind understanding power and most recently the requiem for the American dream nomes work on the nature of human language and communication is profoundly true formed the field of linguistics and greatly influenced science and philosophy.
More very more broadly the so called chomskyan revolution generated intellectual reverberations across. Many disciplines including geography anthropology education psychology and genetics Noam Chomsky is one of the most frequently cited scholars of all time Noam also has been an impassioned critic of American foreign policy and a corporate and government power is now a classic book on the role of intellectuals in American society American power in the new mandarins greatly influenced the debate on the Vietnam War and continues to prompt exact examination of the complicity of intellectuals and implementing policies entrenched in in entrenched power to this day his arguments resonate strongly in the context of the rise of new authoritarian regimes at this time it's a wonderful honor and great pleasure to welcome Noam Chomsky okay I'd like to start start out on one topic other. Than Trump and because.
That we get on that topic which may never get off. It for the rest of the interview so I'd first like to to learn from. You know a little bit about what you think about the the role of human rights today. You see human rights as being able to play a role as sort of a foundational framework for us as. We move forward. Some form of grounding or the abuse of those areas then to to wide-reaching I pose. This question in the context of one of the major themes of this particular meeting of geographers. We have than 9000 geographers assembled here from around the world and that theme is in is mainstreaming human rights in in geography and the aaj our association.
This is grown out of about ten years of work. That we've been doing with a number of groups from Amnesty International and many human rights organizations to the triple is the American Association for the Advancement of science. One of the outgrowth of that has been a very interesting coalition that's come together called the Coalition for science and human rights and this has brought together over 40 scientific associations from chemistry to social sciences and we've agree at the AJ of have played a central role in the development of that coalition over the years so. What I guess. What do you see is potentially promising strategies for advancing human rights and should. We be doing that or should. We focus on something else well there is of course a gold standard on human rights the Universal Declaration 1948 theoretically states adhere to it and practice that's far from true the Universal Declaration ISM sure.
You know has three components of equal significance. One is civil and political rights first. One the second is social and economic rights the third is community and cultural rights the sand of the United States is pretty explicit in principle the United States supports the first component. We can ask about practice but at least in principle it's advocated there are quite interesting questions about practice about say the history of what's called democracy promotion and so on could go into. If you're interested but at least in principle it's advocated the third component cultural community rights is simply ignored there's almost no discussion or comment on it the second social and economic rights is an interesting one and very much on the agenda constantly especially article 25 which calls for which declares. That the right to health help the health care. These jobs at reasonable employment and so on and so forth are.
All fundamental human rights the US has a position on that it was stated pretty blandly by Reagan Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State and Jean Kirkpatrick. She described. This component of the Declaration as a letter to Santa Claus. That was reiterated and expanded by her followers Polidori on ski assistant secretary for Human Rights Mars Abram the US ambassador the UN Human Rights Commission in his case commenting on the right the right to development pretty much paraphrased article 25 the US alone refused to sign. It Abram called. It a provocation a dangerous provocation an idea. That has no basis in law or practice debris on ski dismissed dismissed. It as dismissed the myth. That social and economic rights are fundamental human rights and we see. It in practice. They were not alone incidentally the Russian ambassador Wyszynski right at the outset dismissed.
This is sort of a pious joke so we're in good company in practice. You can look at the records of the organ see. You know the organization of the rich countries roughly 30 rich countries. They have a detailed annual reports on the what they call social justice the extent to which members of the rich club provides suppose so to observe the conditions on social justice enunciated in the Universal Declaration the us ranks way at the bottom along side of Mexico Turkey about twenty nine.
That he could be here to join. Us in Boston for a special session entitled a conversation with Noam Chomsky. This session will be a conversational interview followed by an opportunity for our audience participation to Q&A; what do you think is this a good ideat to use resume writing service like this - https://finditcareer.com/best-resume-writing-services-near-my-location for writting a resume. I have used it twice.
. Most geographers know of Chomsky is written and lectured widely on linguistics philosophy intellectual history contemporary issues international affairs and us foreign policy a small sampling of his numerous publications include the book. That I was first introduced to him by American power and the new mandarins then a lot of linguistics works including Cartesian linguistics and a number of political books well over a hundred books. I think for reasons of state the political economy of human rights and power and ideology language and the problems of knowledge profit over people new horizons in the study of language in mind understanding power and most recently the requiem for the American dream nomes work on the nature of human language and communication is profoundly true formed the field of linguistics and greatly influenced science and philosophy.
More very more broadly the so called chomskyan revolution generated intellectual reverberations across. Many disciplines including geography anthropology education psychology and genetics Noam Chomsky is one of the most frequently cited scholars of all time Noam also has been an impassioned critic of American foreign policy and a corporate and government power is now a classic book on the role of intellectuals in American society American power in the new mandarins greatly influenced the debate on the Vietnam War and continues to prompt exact examination of the complicity of intellectuals and implementing policies entrenched in in entrenched power to this day his arguments resonate strongly in the context of the rise of new authoritarian regimes at this time it's a wonderful honor and great pleasure to welcome Noam Chomsky okay I'd like to start start out on one topic other. Than Trump and because.
That we get on that topic which may never get off. It for the rest of the interview so I'd first like to to learn from. You know a little bit about what you think about the the role of human rights today. You see human rights as being able to play a role as sort of a foundational framework for us as. We move forward. Some form of grounding or the abuse of those areas then to to wide-reaching I pose. This question in the context of one of the major themes of this particular meeting of geographers. We have than 9000 geographers assembled here from around the world and that theme is in is mainstreaming human rights in in geography and the aaj our association.
This is grown out of about ten years of work. That we've been doing with a number of groups from Amnesty International and many human rights organizations to the triple is the American Association for the Advancement of science. One of the outgrowth of that has been a very interesting coalition that's come together called the Coalition for science and human rights and this has brought together over 40 scientific associations from chemistry to social sciences and we've agree at the AJ of have played a central role in the development of that coalition over the years so. What I guess. What do you see is potentially promising strategies for advancing human rights and should. We be doing that or should. We focus on something else well there is of course a gold standard on human rights the Universal Declaration 1948 theoretically states adhere to it and practice that's far from true the Universal Declaration ISM sure.
You know has three components of equal significance. One is civil and political rights first. One the second is social and economic rights the third is community and cultural rights the sand of the United States is pretty explicit in principle the United States supports the first component. We can ask about practice but at least in principle it's advocated there are quite interesting questions about practice about say the history of what's called democracy promotion and so on could go into. If you're interested but at least in principle it's advocated the third component cultural community rights is simply ignored there's almost no discussion or comment on it the second social and economic rights is an interesting one and very much on the agenda constantly especially article 25 which calls for which declares. That the right to health help the health care. These jobs at reasonable employment and so on and so forth are.
All fundamental human rights the US has a position on that it was stated pretty blandly by Reagan Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State and Jean Kirkpatrick. She described. This component of the Declaration as a letter to Santa Claus. That was reiterated and expanded by her followers Polidori on ski assistant secretary for Human Rights Mars Abram the US ambassador the UN Human Rights Commission in his case commenting on the right the right to development pretty much paraphrased article 25 the US alone refused to sign. It Abram called. It a provocation a dangerous provocation an idea. That has no basis in law or practice debris on ski dismissed dismissed. It as dismissed the myth. That social and economic rights are fundamental human rights and we see. It in practice. They were not alone incidentally the Russian ambassador Wyszynski right at the outset dismissed.
This is sort of a pious joke so we're in good company in practice. You can look at the records of the organ see. You know the organization of the rich countries roughly 30 rich countries. They have a detailed annual reports on the what they call social justice the extent to which members of the rich club provides suppose so to observe the conditions on social justice enunciated in the Universal Declaration the us ranks way at the bottom along side of Mexico Turkey about twenty nine.
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