A performative framework for the study of intellectuals

Abstract

This article introduces a new, performative framework for analysing intellectuals and intellectual interventions. It elaborates on the strengths of this theoretical perspective vis-à-vis rival approaches and develops this frame of reference by exploring key constituent concepts, including positioning, script and staging. The article then exemplifies the framework and demonstrates its applicability by exploring a public intellectual performance by Jean-Paul Sartre. To conclude, the article reflects on recent shifts in public intellectual performances, especially changes that are relatively durable and connected to the rise of new media.

Intellectual leadership and academic communities: Issues for discussion and research

“…In the world of powerful ideas, it is not the volume and currency of scientific production, but paradigm shifts that matter (Kuhn, ; Macfarlane, ; Macfarlane & Chan, ). Intellectual performance follows its own logic and script, apart from the prescriptive powers of institutional bureaucracy (Baert & Morgan, ). Intellectual performance, as well as leadership, does not necessarily imply a battle of ideas, and the victory of one type of knowledge over another.…”

The Significance of Civil Intellectuals’ Activism: A Case of Eco-Nationalistic Social Movement in Bangladesh

“…In the relevance of an Enlighten being, Immanuel Kant's direct statement seems to be suitable as it says about a sense of courage which must be used for a being's understanding [95], whereas, the somewhat contrary Foucauldian position emphasized on "being born inquisitive" [96]. Although the arguments here dealt with the presence of civil intellectuals in the reality of political and cultural sense, this attempt certainly examined them in a performative framework [97], namely, the social movement of the Sundarban-Rampal Anti Power-Plant Movement. For this specific case, no opportunity presented itself to deny that any single entity was not "intellectually active.…”

Discursive opportunities and the transnational diffusion of ideas: ‘brainwashing’ and ‘mind control’ in Japan after the Aum Affair

“…Rather than locating a structural break between knowledge‐producing communities and their audiences, the performative approach sees a dynamic and interactive relationship between intellectuals as producers of ideas and public(s) as critical consumers. This ‘performative turn’ is as much a sociology of ideas as it is a sociology of public intellectuals (Alexander ; Baert and Morgan ). The public intellectual is distinct from ‘intellectuals’ in the ordinary sense, as they speak to audiences beyond their professional milieus to intervene on issues beyond their areas of expertise.…”

“…Importantly, this approach also puts forward a looser definition of public intellectuals. Rather than locating public intellectuals at the level of a particular class or profession, this perspective defines public intellectuals by the capacity for making public interventions (Baert and Morgan ; Eyal and Buchholz ).…”