Public Intellectual 2.0 - ChronicleReview.com

The Chronicle, no less, comes out with a qualified alright-y for blogs as a vehicle for public intellectuals, but you may not that there are no comments available. Sigh. They still don't get the larger affordances of blogging, its openness. The Chronicle in many ways is still a closed silo, run by the elite for the elite. Long live the public intellectual life of the folk.

There are, of course, limits to the ways in which blogs aid public intellectuals. It is not clear how many academics will choose to embrace the technology. The academic politics of blogging can also be problematic, particularly for younger scholars focused on tenure. Another emerging problem is that professionalization is creeping into the blogosphere. Popular bloggers are also increasingly paid bloggers — and the emergence of what Irving Howe called a "phalanx of solidarity" among prominent bloggers might retard public debate.

Public Intellectual 2.0 - ChronicleReview.com

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