Intellectuals: The vanguards of social change and the development process

Abstract

At present, there exists a tendency among academicians to explain social change, development, and transformation in terms of technological reductionism. By overemphasizing the importance of technology, those with this tendency ignore many relevant factors and exclude them from the discussion by developing negative discourse about them. Intellectuals are also included in these negative discourses, so their contribution to society is often ignored in the literature. However, intellectuals build the backbone of the critical discourse culture in their respective societies, thanks to their capacity for abstraction and their ability to use meta-language. Moreover, as they take the responsibility for society members as a voluntary activity and making it their destiny to suffer from years of "thinking," they are considered the most important representatives of public conscience. In other words, intellectuals not only help uphold the ideals of society and culture but also play the most important role of facilitating change, development, and transformation in these areas. With this in mind, this article draws attention to the productivity of intellectuals in social and cultural life and their critical role in it.