Dramatic Intellectuals

“Intellectuals are dull as book-worms, you say? Not in this book. Among others we encounter dramatic life portraits, such as Bertrand Russell and C.G. Jung, at opposite ends of the political and intellectual spectrum, but understandable in the perspective of cutting-edge cultural sociology.”

—Randall Collins, University of Pennsylvania, USA. Author of The Sociology of Philosophies.

“What do Slavoj Žižek, Jordan Peterson, and Giorgio Agamben have to do with celebrity culture and public spectacle? As Dramatic Intellectuals shows, the answer is everything. It sets forth a new agenda for the cultural sociology of public intellectuals, demonstrating how ideas become influential as much through theatrical presentation as through content. This is a must-read for scholars, students, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of ideas, performance, and public life.”

—Shai M. Dromi, Harvard University, USA

“Dramatic Intellectuals is a superb collection exploring an exciting approach to the sociology of intellectuals. This approach sees intellectuals not merely as epiphenomena of this or that social force, but as performing agents, acting out their ideas on the social stage. Pérez-Jara and Rudas have drawn together the leading experts in this field to provide a beautifully curated collection of essays. This book is an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand the aestheticized dramas that intellectuals are continually caught up in.”

—Marcus Morgan, University of Bristol, UK



This volume offers a renewed understanding of public intellectuals by examining the socio-cultural foundations of their influence on contemporary societies. Each chapter focuses on a different pivotal figure to show how they shaped collective imagination through master stories of utopia and apocalypse. This book will be essential reading for scholars of cultural sociology. 



Javier Pérez-Jara is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Seville, Spain, and a Faculty Fellow at Yale University’s CCS, USA. 



Nicolás Rudas is a Sociology PhD candidate and a Junior Fellow at Yale University’s CCS, USA.