If we are to talk of a "new” intellectual movement, the question is begged: what happened to the "old” intellectual movement? What happened to the thinkers who inspired and led the struggle against colonialism and apartheid? In pursuit of answers to these questions, the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection hosted a roundtable on the "The Role of Intellectuals in the State-Society Nexus”. This publication presents the contributions to the debate.