Latin America: Stirrings in the Servants’ Quarters
In his first full-length interview since Hugo Chavez’s UN speech which made his book Hegemony or Survival a bestseller, Noam Chomsky talks about developments in Latin America and challenges to U.S. hegemony. Since the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. has viewed Latin America as an area it could easily dominate and control. With the elections of Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, the region’s traditional subordination to the colossus in the north, is changing. There are stirrings in the servants’ quarters. Chavez’s comments at the UN calling Bush “the devil” received maximum media attention while his substantive political comments and the long applause he received at the end of his presentation were ignored.
Interview by David Barsamian.
Recorded at MIT.
Speaker
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky, by any measure, has led a most extraordinary life. In one index, he is ranked as the eighth most cited person in history, right up there with Aristotle, Shakespeare, Marx, Plato, and Freud. His contributions to modern linguistics are legendary. In addition to his pioneering work in that field, he has been a leading voice for peace and social justice for many decades. Chris Hedges says he is “America’s greatest intellectual” who “makes the powerful, as well as their liberal apologists, deeply uncomfortable.” The New Statesman calls him “the conscience of the American people.” He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. At 97, though having health setbacks, he continues to inform and inspire people all over the world. He is the author of scores of books, including Masters of Mankind, Consequences of Capitalism, Chronicles of Dissent, and Notes on Resistance. He is co-author with Edward Herman of Manufacturing Consent. His latest books are The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World and Surviving the 21st Century.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.