he will be missed. On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 1:20 PM, Richard Wolff <[email protected]> wrote:
> Stephen A. Resnick was a leading > > American Marxian economist for > > over four decades—from the 1960s, > > when the struggle against the Vietnam > > War brought him to Marxism, until his > > death this January. His parents were > > Boston retail-trade workers whose son > > showed exceptional aptitude for reading > > and thinking. That took him to the > > Wharton School at Pennsylvania and on > > to MIT for his economics Ph.D., studying > > in the 1960s with future Nobel laureates > > Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow. His > > first job out of graduate school was as > > an assistant professor at Yale, where I > > met him as a grad student in his class. > > Steve was thus launched on the pampered > > elite track for docile exponents of > > mainstream economics, at that time a > > tense “synthesis” of neoclassical microeconomics > > and Keynesian macro. > > Young people from below, myself included, > > were allowed—a few at a > > time—onto such tracks. > > How troubling to the profession, > > then, when so many of us left that mainstream, > > having found it polluted by its > > uncritical subservience to the capitalist > > status quo. Many of us formed the > > Union for Radical Political Economics > > (URPE) to break from the mainstream > > American Economics Association (AEA). > > Some of us engaged the most serious > > and best-developed of the alternatives > > to both neoclassical and Keynesian economic > > paradigms: Marxism. Steve thus > > redirected his twin passions of economic > > theory and econometrics toward the > > goals of social change and mastery of > > Marxian economics. > > Yale responded to this shift predictably— > > by blocking Steve’s promotion > > beyond associate professor. So, in > > 1971, he joined me at the City College > > of New York. Its new chairman, Alf > > Conrad, recently decamped from the > > Harvard Business School, was building > > a strong Marxian section of the economics > > department. There we taught > > the first semesters of “open admissions,” > > that wonderful moment when > > New York’s children all became eligible > > for a free college education: testimony > > to New York’s working-class struggles > > and victories. > > But then UMass-Amherst made > > Steve and me (and Sam Bowles, Herb > > Gintis, and Rick Edwards) an offer we > > could not refuse. We all took positions > > there in 1973. Steve and I focused > > on developing a Marxian component > > of the curriculum, both > > undergraduate and graduate. From > > the mid-1970s to 2010, Marxian economics > > was a major concentration > > available to interested students from > > the United States and around the > > world. What UMass achieved then > > was a key contribution to this striking > > result: more Marxian economists > > are teaching in U.S. colleges and universities > > today than ever before. > > Thanks especially to Steve, much of > > that Marxian economics was freed from > > mechanical, formulaic interpretations > > that reflected the exigencies of Soviet > > economic development and foreign > > policy, and the pressures and legacies > > of Cold War polarizations. Likewise, > > Steve took the lead in interrogating > > major modern theoretical breakthroughs > > (such as structuralism, > > semiotics, post-structuralism, and postmodernism) > > to see how their insights > > could enrich Marxian economics. > > Most of Steve’s work was devoted > > to collaborations with me on Marxian > > theory. Our first major book, Knowledge > > and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political > > Economy, was published by the > > University of Chicago Press in 1987, over > > Milton Friedman’s objection. It established > > a different interpretation of Marx’s > > concepts of class and of causality (newly > > renamed “overdetermination,” a term > > taken from Sigmund Freud and the > > Marxian philosophers György Lukács > > and Louis Althusser). In our many books > > and articles over the years, we developed > > these concepts into a genuinely > > new Marxian economics. > > The last year of Steve’s life, 2012, saw > > the publication of our Contending > > Economic Theories: Neoclassical, > > Keynesian and Marxian by the MIT Press. > > The book is a summary of what divides > > the economics profession and an exploration > > of the high stakes of that division. > > It is also a tool for passing on, to a > > new generation, the excitement and > > political power that flow from a key > > realization: that economics always was, > > is, and will be a contested terrain of differing > > perspectives connected to clashing > > political agendas. > > Last year, Steve and I noted, with a > > certain ironic satisfaction, that capitalism’s > > worst crisis since the 1930s has > > turned a new generation of young people > > toward the criticism of capitalism > > and thereby the discovery of Marxism. > > What they are now learning owes a great > > deal to the superb mind and passionate > > commitment of Steve Resnick. D&S > > RICK WOLFF is a visiting professor in > > the Graduate Program of International > > Affairs at New School University. > > Steve directed his > > twin passions of > > economic theory and > > econometrics toward > > the goals of social > > change and mastery of > > Marxian economics. > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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