Nikandrov, A.V. Norberto Bobbio on the typology of intellectuals in the post-industrial society

Abstract: The article concerns the changes introduced by Norberto Bobbio into the theory of intellectuals, which was developed by him in 1950s, and presented in his work “Politics and culture” (1955). When the American concepts, ideas and doctrines of Atlanticism enter the Western European scientifi c and intellectual world the ideas of role of intellectuals in society and politics changes towards their de-politization. It was especially facilitated by the combination of concepts, which basically formed an unifi ed doctrine of post-industrial society. All of these changes made N.Bobbio search for the answer to the question of whether the role of intellectuals in fact had changed, considerning that by 1970s many representatives of political science and philosophy questioned both role and the very existence of intellectuals in the post-industrial society. In his works of late 1970s N. Bobbio partially corrected his teaching of intellectuals, while not changing its nature and still supporting the position on the decisive role of intellectuals in the protection of culture from the infl uence of political imperatives. The theoretical and methodological basis for the work involved historical and political science method, historical analytical method allowing the researcher to see the concept of N.Bobbio within the framework of Western European political realities and scientifi c quests of XX century. Both the teachings and the personality of Norberto Bobbio were mostly unknown for the Russian researchers of political history of the second half of XX century, while his concept of political role of intellectual is quite interesting for both the historians specializing in the XX century and the scientists interested in the so-called “history of intellectuals” as a specifi c phenomenon of the political history of XX century. It is therefore important to gain knowledge of the transformations of the concept of political role of intellectuals of N. Bobbio throughout the XX century under the infl uence of pro-Atlanticist theories of post-industrial society in an attempt to “protect the protectors of culture”.

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