Chomsky is credited as the creator or co-creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, the universal grammar theory, and the Chomsky--Schützenberger theorem.

Ideologically identifying with anarchism and libertarian socialism, Chomsky is known for his critiques of U.S. foreign policy[12] and contemporary capitalism,[13] and he has been described as a prominent cultural figure.[14] His media criticism has includedManufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), co-written withEdward S. Herman, an analysis articulating the propaganda model theory for examining the media.

According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index in 1992, Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992, and was the eighth most cited source.[15][16][17][18] Chomsky is the author of over 100 books.[19]