ABSTRACT
Some of the most effective social change actors in history have been highly influenced by the work of philosophers, political theorists, and public intellectuals. Indeed, early civil rights organizers were moved by the work of W. E. B. DuBois, feminist advocates by the work of Patricia Hill Collins, and contemporary global justice activists by Noam Chomsky. Ideas can impart inspiration for change; however, as the philosopher and political organizer Karl Marx noted, they are not the change itself. The relationship between organizers and ideas is often a synergistic one-organizers and grassroots movements are influenced by the ideas of academicians and intellectuals, who are inspired by practitioners, some of whom may be theorizing as they do their work. In some cases, such as that of activist and historian Howard Zinn, being an organizer and intellectual are not separate roles.
