Necessary Illusions ─ Thought Control in Democratic Societies

In his 1988 CBC Massey Lecture, Noam Chomsky inquires into the nature of the media in a political system where the population cannot be disciplined by force and thus must be subjected to more subtle forms of ideological control. Specific cases are illustrated in detail, using the U.S. media primarily but also media in other societies. Chomsky considers how the media might be democratized (as part of the general problem of developing more democratic institutions) in order to offer citizens broader and more meaningful participation in social and political life.

Born in Philadelphia, Noam Chomsky is an internationally acclaimed linguistics scholar, author, and political radical. A self-proclaimed anarchist, Chomsky has established an irreverence towards authority characterized by political activism. Currently a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chomsky is the author of numerous books, including Towards a New Cold War, Turning the Tide, The Culture of Terrorism, Manufacturing Consent (with E.S. Herman), 9-11, Media Control, and Hegemony or Survival. He lives in Boston.