Being a public intellectual is a civic service fighting for democratic goods

Evidence

The principal agents are intellectuals who have a specialized responsibility for the circulation and development of culture and ideology and who either align themselves with the existing dispositions of social and intellectual forces (“traditional” intellectuals) or align themselves with the emerging popular forces and seek to elaborate new currents of ideas (“organic” intellectuals). — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 126 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The relationship between the intellectuals and the world of production is not as direct as it is with the fundamental social groups but is, in varying degrees, “mediated” by the whole fabric of society and by the complex of superstructures, of which the intellectuals are, precisely, the “functionaries”. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 277 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The intellectual’s role is a moral gauge for cultural politics and democratic public spheres.; The public intellectual role is inseparable from politics, power, and ethics — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2680; The engaged public intellectual concept serves as a moral gauge for cultural politics — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2610 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Intellectuals either serve existing power or align with emerging popular forces. #complicates (0.78) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 126
• Intellectuals act as functionaries of the superstructures mediating society and production #complicates (0.77) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 277