RACING TOWARD THE ABYSS

In a completely new set of interviews, Noam Chomsky addresses the interwoven crises we face today, and explores the promise of activism for confronting injustice and creating a sustainable and just world.

For over half a century, no one has spoken out more incisively, forcefully, and meticulously about the injustices of American power and the world than Noam Chomsky. But now, he warns, time is running out on our society as we know it.

In this wide-ranging, withering series of interviews, Chomsky details the overlapping threats: a looming cold war with China, a pandemic that could trigger economic upheavals and radically exacerbate inequality, an environmental and climate crisis threatening to destroy the planet, the brutal impact of neoliberal austerity programs, the Trump phenomenon. And in an interview to be conducted after the November 2020 election, he examines its results and what they mean for the shaky future of American democracy.

Amidst the wreckage, though, Chomsky sees positive signs. An unprecedented amount of effort and attention is now devoted to issues such as climate change, economic equality, a Green New Deal, and Medicare for All. Likewise, the Black Lives Matter movement shows how a brutally honest reckoning with American culture can address centuries of racism and injustice. We can see the rise of a new level of social activism. With his usual brilliance and precision, Chomsky assesses the viability of the nation and struggles for creating a sustainable and just world.

Noam Chomsky is the author of numerous bestselling political works, including Hegemony or Survival and Failed States. A professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, and laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona, he is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He lives in Arizona.

James Peck is the author of Ideal Illusions and the forthcoming Misunderstanding China, and the editor of The Chomsky Reader. A professor of history at NYU, he lives in New York City.