Diggit Magazine

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Public Intellectuals

File
The Editors
03/11/2023
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As Heynders (2016) argues, public intellectuals are of vital importance to the functioning of democracy by taking position in debates on matters of general concern, thereby by stimulating discussion in the public sphere. Whereas in the past the term 'public intellectual' was reserved for a very select group of individuals, the increasing digitalization of the public sphere has allowed others to take on this role as well. 

In this file we have compiled the work of some of our authors on the role of public intellectuals in today's society and on the discussion who can and who cannot be considered a public intellectual.

This paper compares The fire next time by James Baldwin and Between the world and me by Ta-Nehisi Coates to come to a more inclusionary concept of authorship than Barthes’ death of the Author, based on Foucault’s notion of author function.
© Jop Gillissen

Baldwin and Coates: Activist postures as ‘live authorship’

Paper
Jop Gillissen
03/02/2023
30 minutes to read

A comparison of Baldwin's and Coates’ public intellectual positions and their works The fire next time and Between the world and me, for a more inclusionary idea of authorship than Barthes’ death of the Author, using Foucault’s author function.

The Hybrid Artist: An All-Rounder in the Cultural Field

Paper
Roeliena Aukema
16/04/2021
15 minutes to read

The hybrid artist is not only an artist that works interdisciplinary but uses notions from different fields to expand their practice as an artist to explore different creative roles in society and within the arts.

© Netflix

Aziz Ansari: Modern Public Intellectual?

Paper
Chi-chieh Huang
26/03/2021
32 minutes to read

This article seeks to examine the public persona of Aziz Ansari through the model of the public intellectual.

Jordan Peterson as a human filter bubble

Academic paper
Inge van de Ven
21/06/2019
19 minutes to read

The case of Jordan Peterson demonstrates that in today’s public spheres, the figure of the public intellectual is not necessarily free from ulterior motives in filtering information for the general public.

Chinese intellectuals, digital media, weibo,
© kunshou

Where have the Chinese public intellectuals gone?

Column
Mingyi Hou
07/03/2019
9 minutes to read

In the democratization paradigm the focus is on the question to what extent media institutions are free from state intervention. In this column, Mingyi Hou questions the usefulness of this paradigm to explain why Chinese public intellectuals seem to be disappearing.

Satre on Facebook The public intellectual filter bubble

The public intellectual trapped in a Facebook bubble

Article
Noura Yacoubi
24/02/2018
5 minutes to read

Facebook's new algorithm give users a better experience, but actually creating an even more restricted bubble. The 'public' in 'public intellectual' could better be changed to 'bubble'. 

 

© Associated Press (AP)

How basketball All-Star player LeBron James becomes a public intellectual

Article
G. H.
29/03/2017
7 minutes to read

Sports stars have an actual influence on the public sphere. They should dare to step up and raise their voices more often. Basketball player LeBron James' shows the way by criticizing Trump and supporting Black Lives Matter.