Power and Intellectuals
Jinnzaman breaks down the relationship between power, intellectuals and elites. In looking at the way thinkers and academicians place themselves vis-à-vis power structures he notes their motivations and characterizes a revolutionary seeking to change the system:
In general, there are two types of intellectuals: those that acquiesce to power and those that challenge it. Those that acquiesce to power do so for a variety of reasons. Perhaps to promote their own self-worth, perhaps for monetary reasons since they are offered jobs, perhaps they do so for political power since they are appointed or elected to positions, perhaps they do so because they feel the need to defend one’s homeland, etc. Perhaps the strongest reason why intellectuals relate to power in a conservative manner is that academic institutions, in spite of declarations of academic freedoms, are still institutions - social constructs that are embedded in human relationships and, as such, limited in certain ways. …
The greatest way to challenge power is by attacking the idealized history on which it bases its symbols and mythology. The ultimate objective of the anti-power intellectual is to expose the true nature of the system for what it is - one that ultimately relies upon brute force to create an imbalance of power that then hides behind negotiations between parties with disparate power - in other words, the ultimate objective of the true intellectual is to demystify the power elite system and shine a light on its true nature so that people can see naked power. Such an intellectual’s greatest weapon is history and the interpretation of particular events that are used by the power elites to create symbols, myths, and often cult worship. These must be inverted by any means possible, either intellectually or physically.
The question for the Islamic revolutionary is to invoke a mass-movement to tear down the oppressive batini systems while also producing a system of mass-education to prevent jahiliyyah from implanting itself in social and political institutions in the event that a popular revolution is proven to be successful.
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