"This study focuses on that area of revolutionary socialist philosophy which is devoted to conceiving the "intellectual" and allocating (or refusing to do so) a role to the "intellectual" in the revolutionary process and state. Through an examination of the intellectual's role, the author tries to reach an understanding of the connotations and pragmatics of transformative socialism in our time.".

"Primarily this study is a survey and reexamination of the constructions of, and attitudes toward, intellectuals in different revolutionary socialist philosophies, with particular reference to the corresponding theories of history that are implicit therein. The actual process of reconceptualizing transformative socialism in our context, and in the light of the above reexamination, is taken up toward the end of the book in a more or less polemical fashion."--BOOK JACKET.