Last intellectual

Author: Russell Jacoby (USA); Hongjie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: For decades, the intellectual class has always been the traditional intellectuals who rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s. In the sociocultural landscape, the voice of a whole generation of young people has been absent. Russell Jacoby says, young people, you should no longer succumb to the times and fate. The collection of essays on intellectuals, "The Last Intellectuals," was included in the list of "20 Books That Influenced Chinese Business." Russell Jacoby is a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles. Jacoby is known for his sharp writing and bold views. His other works include "The Death of the Professions: The Commericalization of Culture and the Crisis of the Humanities" (1975), "The Repression of Psychoanalysis" (1983), and "The End of Utopia: Politics and Culture in the Age of Apathy" (1999), among others.
The title of "The Last Intellectuals" may sound alarmist, but the questions raised by the author are not unfounded. In the preface, Jacoby writes, "Where are the young intellectuals? This is the starting point of all my questions. The 'last' generation of intellectuals in the United States—those born in the 1920s and 1930s—have a presence and a unique voice that cannot be matched by younger intellectuals."
Jacob argues that in mid-20th-century America, many intellectuals lived by writing book reviews and opinion pieces, with their space confined to city streets and cafes, and their readership limited to an educated public. By the 1950s, open cultural spaces were shrinking, and relying solely on writing was no longer sustainable. With the rise of higher education, the traditional intellectuals were replaced by professors and high-tech experts. Today, young "intellectuals" are almost all products of the academy, surviving only within the campus and narrow academic discourse.
Jacob suggests that the traditional intellectuals wrote with sharpness and sensitivity, fostering sensibility and sharpening minds. In contrast, academics today are burdened by the style of their doctoral dissertations. He states in the book that the academic system has tamed intellectuals, making them subservient to money, status, and power, and willingly abandoning the refined language and critical thinking of the older generation. Jacob concludes that specialization has not only failed to promote but has instead further undermined the health of public culture. Today, American universities are well-funded, but resources are wasted on unimportant writers and works.
Using Edmund Wilson, one of the most outstanding critics of the 20th century in his eyes, Jacoby criticizes this era that emphasizes "academic standards" but lacks "critical standards." Edmund Wilson, a renowned American critic of the 20th century, despised the so-called "academic standards." This writer, who operated outside the university system, was unafraid to take extreme measures to maintain his independence, openly declaring, "I will not attend any academic conferences."
The quality of urban life and its impact on cultural life cannot be discussed without mentioning the quality of urban life. Cities, as manifestations of culture, are a topic dear to Western intellectuals, but in China, we rarely see such concerns. In "The Last Intellectuals," there is a chapter titled "On the Way to the Suburbs," which focuses specifically on cities. Jacoby quotes Jane Jacobs, who wrote in "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," that the life of cities exists in historic communities. However, planners, officials, and developers, in the name of development, encroached on land, destroying warm, historic neighborhoods with high-rise buildings and highways, greatly weakening the vitality of the cities. Jacoby believes that, to some extent, urban renewal in New York directly impacted its cultural life. In the 1960s, Greenwich Village was lost, and young intellectuals could no longer afford its cheap rents or enjoy its free-spirited life. So, they flocked to academia, where university salaries were attractive.
In the book, Jacoby writes, "City scholars of the 1950s, when cities were in crisis, rose to action, representing the last generation of intellectuals responsible to the educated public." Jacoby argues that the most influential "last intellectuals" in urban studies were Lewis Mumford. Mumford compared the 1950s in America to an "age of bulldozers," predicting that future cities would be "mechanized useless things," a "jumble of highways, (flyovers), and parking lots"—scenery that residents of China's large cities are now all too familiar with. Caring about cities, cherishing historical memory, and breaking the fallacy of "bigger is better" are urgent tasks for the Chinese people as well.
The New Left's Abandonment of Public Consciousness
Two chapters (out of a total of seven) in the book are dedicated to the issue of the "campus New Left." Jacoby mentions another "last intellectual" he admires, the American sociologist C. Wright Mills, who was known for his research on the role of intellectuals in modern society. American intellectuals once harbored a kind of "self-hatred," condemning the vulgarity and materialism in American culture, and were out of step with popular politics. Because the traditional intellectuals were critical of capitalism and commercial society, they were generally considered to be on the left. Mills, even as a typical leftist figure, always believed that intellectuals represented social conscience, that they must participate in society while studying it, and that they must have a strong sense of the public and politics. Today's "New Left" in American universities, however, is entirely different—they merely adopt radical postures within the ivory tower.
In "The Last Intellectuals," it is written that since the 1960s and 1970s, New Leftists have advanced rapidly in universities, and their achievements are undeniable. However, their writings are often filled with pretentious academic jargon, understandable only to fellow experts, and unread by others, failing to have any social impact. But let's not forget that the New Left does not want, nor does it bother, to write for the public; they are dedicated to academics, swimming in academic jargon and concepts, their eyes fixed on professional journals, specialized books, and specialized conferences.
Jacoby points out that today's universities are suffused with a "corporate spirit," and the once selfless scholars have become contractors and advertisers—"the academic bourgeoisie" is producing shoddy specialized works. The New Left professionals are very adept at playing this game.
Exploring the Responsibility of Intellectuals
"The Last Intellectuals" was published in 1987 and reissued in 2000. Have intellectuals really disappeared, and is social conscience on the verge of extinction? It seems not. Recently, the Global Times has introduced two highly regarded contemporary American intellectuals, Edward Said and Noam Chomsky, who, despite being in academia, have not been co-opted by the highly specialized academic system. They raise independent and resounding voices on international affairs and social justice. However, the shortcomings of the academic system pointed out by Jacoby are also worth attention for Chinese readers.
The thickness and correctness of customs concern the rise and fall of society (or "sustainable development"). It is essential to broaden the range of discourse and further explore the social responsibility of intellectuals—this is not something to be taken lightly.