Introduction: The Privatization of Politics

‘Slowing down the going-away process’ — Tom Stoppard and Soviet Dissent

“…115 This goes some way to suggest that as politics became privatised during the twentieth century, the political influence of intellectuals such as Stoppard became intertwined with their ability to exploit their celebrity status, a noticeably different political environment to previous generations where intellect alone could secure column inches. 116 In this regard, the influence that NGOs could have in supporting intellectuals engaged in political action was enormous. In Stoppard's case, they acted as guides, navigating him through a number of complex political (and linguistic) issues and providing him with the necessary information to conduct his activism.…”