Albert O. Hirschman

An Intellectual Biography
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-0-231-19982-7
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 352 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 233 mm, Gewicht: 616 g

One of the most original social scientists of the twentieth century, Albert O. Hirschman led an uncommonly dramatic life. After fleeing Nazi Germany as a youth, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, took part in antifascist activities in Italy, and organized an underground rescue operation in Marseille through which more than 2,000 people, including Marc Chagall, Arthur Koestler, and Hannah Arendt, escaped Europe. Hirschman moved across topics, methodologies, and disciplinary boundaries as fluidly as he crossed among countries and languages. His work is marked by a deep suspicion of all-encompassing theories, valuing instead doubt and a sensitivity to contingencies and unexpected consequences.

In this intellectual biography, the economic historian Michele Alacevich explores the development and trajectory of Hirschman’s characteristic approach to social-scientific questions. He traces the many strands of Hirschman’s thought and their place in his multifaceted body of work, considering their limitations as well as their strengths. Alacevich puts Hirschman’s ideas into context, following his participation in the major intellectual and political debates of his times. He examines Hirschman’s pioneering work in development studies and his analyses of social change, the history of capitalism, and the workings of democracy alongside his activities in the postwar reconstruction of Europe and economic development in Latin America. A compelling intellectual portrait of a profoundly distinctive thinker, this book also reflects on Hirschman’s legacy and lasting influence.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Alacevich, Michele

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Geschichte der VWL
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch

Über Autor(innen)

Alacevich, Michele
Michele Alacevich is Associate Professor of Economic History at the University of Bologna. He is a former director of global studies at Loyola University Maryland and a research fellow at Harvard University, Columbia University, the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), and the World Bank.

Michele Alacevich is an associate professor of economic history and the history of economic thought at the University of Bologna. He is the author of The Political Economy of the World Bank: The Early Years (2009) and coauthor of Inequality: A Short History (2018), among other books.