INTELLECTUALS IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SOCIETY: Critical Interrogations

The structural organs of ‘critical interrogation’ in any field of knowledge are discussion, dialogue and dissent. In fact, critical interrogation is the philosophy of ideological commitment based narratives. It also helps in understanding the ‘invisible content’ of narratives in the form of ‘between-the-lines’. With this view, the author has made an attempt to examine the concept of academic intellectuals and their role-systems. These could be categorised in ‘pro-establishment, ‘status-quoist’ and ‘anti-establishment’ and are well visible on the academic campuses. The world of academic intellectuals is a product of ‘state-society-academia’ interface, thus making them conscious about dialectics of enlightenment. The present 21st century, under the influence of neo-liberalism and global market fundamentalism, represents the ‘age of violence’ and ‘age of uncertainty’. It makes academic intellectuals ‘anxiety-centric’. Corporate governed states everywhere have attacked on academic freedom and autonomy of campuses. Far right forces are compelling academic intellectuals to oppose secularism, rule of law and the systems of tolerance so that ‘majoritarianism’ could get institutional acceptance. The book explores the ‘roles and rights’ and ‘roles and responsibilities’ of academic intellectuals with the help of empirico-ideological perspective based on Marxian understanding.