One of the expectations – nay, duty – of the academic in resource-poor countries like those of the Caribbean is to contribute selflessly to knowledge expansion outside of the classroom. He has a responsibility, which he cannot shirk, to undertake a transformation from academic to public intellectual.
It is a life, however, that is fraught with personal pitfalls, and is not for the faint-hearted.
Principal among its dangers is the insecurity of politicians, whose knee-jerk reaction is to conveniently clothe the intellectual in the colours of the opposing party whenever an unfavourable viewpoint is expressed.
In small societies, with a history of authoritarianism, the consequences can range from personal verbal assaults by party operatives, attacks on one’s employment prospects, physical injury, and even death.
It is only the most responsible, mature and democratic politician who can adjust himself to the reality of contentious objective perspectives, without bitterness. This type is rare.
Sadly, the Caribbean thinker operates in a society that is historically and notoriously anti-intellectual.
Whilst university academics are often accused of being removed from public life, those who dare to engage are often shocked by the society’s intolerance of independent thinking.
After centuries of building a slave society devoid of books, there is little acceptance of those whose public function is knowledge construction and objective analysis.
In this context the intellectual is a sitting duck to a bullying politician. Whilst the politician’s public discourse is bound by no rules, the intellectual is guided by the integrity of his own self-imposed commitment to objectivity. Whilst the genuine intellectual is a lover of truth, the genuine politician is a lover of power.
Finally, whilst the politician is moved by public adulation and is given to boasting and bravado, the intellectual seeks neither popularity nor public fawning. Humility is his stock in trade. He is judged by the clarity of his analysis, the veracity of his suppositions, and the integrity of his mind.
Moreover, the intellectual cannot resort to the language or method of the politician irrespective of the extent of the provocation. Such a response would place him in the enemy camp, and would negate his claims to neutrality. The intellectual must therefore reach for higher ground, whilst the politician plunges to the gutter.
What then is the lot of the public intellectual who takes his role seriously? The answer: he must do everything to maintain his neutrality. He must avoid all politicians, of all stripes, like the plague. They cannot be numbered even among his casual friends.
He must be respectful of all, but fearful of none.
A cowardly intellectual is an oxymoron, for fearfulness breeds subjectivity and avoidance of truth. The intellectual must therefore be open to the ultimate sacrifice and care little about his job or his life. Any compromise spells failure.
• Tennyson Joseph is a political scientist at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus specialising in analysis of regional affairs.