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The potential contributions of "intellectuals" for social movements could stand some scrutiny. Rather than a 'counter'-hegemony,
Gramsci posited the need to create a new hegemony for the proletariat; this was, in part, the role of "organic intellectuals."
I argue that contemporary transformative social movements seek an alternative hegemony. This leads to many possible roles
for scholars-who-would-be-activists, but one is to help provide new imaginings of social reality. This is a task of what I
call "critical conceptual imagining" as a method for social movement activist-research. To do this intellectuals
must be recognized as "movement intellectuals," which is similar to but not the same as Gramsci's organic intellectuals.
Examples are provided, primarily from environmental activism.
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