US PHILOSOPHER, linguist and intellectual Noam Chomsky is to visit Belfast later this year to deliver a human-rights lecture on behalf of Amnesty International.
Prof Chomsky, who will speak at the Whitla Hall on October 30th as part of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s, said he was delighted to be delivering the annual Amnesty lecture in Belfast.
Citing the election of US president Barack Obama and social struggles in Latin America, Prof Chomsky will speak on how grassroots activism can be a mechanism for progressive change. The lecture will also be based on his forthcoming book, Hopes and Prospects, in which he draws hope for the future from such activism.
“Popular activism has repeatedly brought about substantial gains in freedom and justice,” he said. “The UK has seen recently what other states have experienced countless times before – that their political and economic leaders can’t be trusted to do what’s right.”
He continued: “Activism is growing all over the world and ordinary people are realising that they can be agents for change. For years, Amnesty has been mobilising people to stand up for justice and I’m delighted to be giving their lecture in Belfast.”
Amnesty International Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said he hoped the lecture would inspire others to get involved in human-rights campaigning. “We hope [Prof Chomsky’s] rallying call will get more Northern Ireland people involved in human-rights campaigning on issues from Afghanistan to Burma, and from China to the United States,” he said.
Graeme Farrow, director of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, said the lecture “may turn out to be the fastest-selling speaker event in the festival’s history, such is the interest which Noam Chomsky attracts wherever he goes”.