Dramatic Intellectuals by Javier Pérez-Jara

Dramatic Intellectuals by Javier Pérez-Jara

This edited volume advances meaning-centered approaches to understanding the social construction of public intellectuals and their enduring influence on contemporary societies. The contributors reject reductionist perspectives that depict intellectuals and their ideas as mere byproducts of broader social forces. Instead, the volume champions a multidimensional approach that recognizes the semi-autonomy and causal power of intellectual discourses. At the core of this framework is the concept of dramatic intellectuals—figures who navigate collective anxieties and hopes, shaping public discourse through master narratives of salvation and catastrophe, utopia and apocalypse. Through diverse case studies, the volume identifies key features of their master stories, including stark binaries, the social construction of meta-adversaries and meta-saviors, the mobilization of cultural traumas and ideological packs, and the Cassandra complex. Each chapter examines at least one pivotal dramatic intellectual within her cultural context, exploring how these figures shape public discourse and collective imagination. The volume covers a diverse range of intellectuals, including Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand Russell, Noam Chomsky, Arne Naess, Ingemar Hedenius, Ayn Rand, Otis Eugene “Gene” Ray, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Laje, Slavoj Žižek, Jordan Peterson, and Giorgio Agamben. Beyond detailed case studies, the book lays the groundwork for new research agendas in the sociology of intellectuals. This book will be essential reading for scholars of cultural sociology.

Javier Pérez-Jara is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and East Asian Studies at the University of Seville, Spain, and a Faculty Fellow at Yale University’s Center for Cultural Sociology, USA. His research spans cultural sociology and philosophy, focusing on the social construction of utopian and apocalyptic narratives, contemporary materialism, and the nature versus nurture debate.   Nicolás Rudas is a sociologist and Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Yale University, USA. He is a Junior Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale. Nicolás’s research interests encompass the intersections of culture, radicalism, and democracy.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9783031899089
ISBN 10	3031899083
Title	Dramatic Intellectuals
Author	Javier Pérez-Jara
Series	Cultural Sociology
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Springer International Publishing AG
Year published	2025-06-24
Number of pages	278
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.