Richard D. Wolff
Encyclopedia
Richard D. Wolff is an American
economist, well-known for his work on Marxian economics
, economic methodology
, and class analysis
.
in 1963 and moved on to Stanford
(he attained a M.A. in economics in 1964) to study with Paul A. Baran
. Baran died prematurely from a heart attack in 1964 and Wolff transferred to Yale University
, where he received a M.A. in economics in 1966, M.A. in history in 1967, and a Ph.D. in economics
in 1969. As a graduate student at Yale, Wolff worked as an instructor. His dissertation, "The Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya" was eventually published in book form in 1974.
In addition to his native English
, Wolff is fluent in French
and German
. Wolff is married to (and sometimes co-authors with) psychoanalyst Harriet Fraad with whom he has two adult children.
from 1969–1973. Here he started his life-long collaboration with fellow economist Stephen Resnick
, who arrived in 1971 after being denied tenure at Yale for signing an anti-war petition. Both would then be part, along with Samuel Bowles
, Herbert Gintis
, and Rick Edwards, of the "radical package" that was hired in 1973 by the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
, where Wolff has been full professor since 1981.
The first co-authored academic publication of Wolff and Resnick was "The Theory of Transitional Conjunctures and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism" which laid out the pillars of the framework that they have worked on ever since. In it, they formulated a non-determinist
, class analytical approach for understanding the debates regarding the transition from feudalism
to capitalism
. Their topics have included Marxian theory and value analysis, overdetermination
, radical economics, international trade, business cycles, social formations, the Soviet Union
, and comparing and contrasting Marxian and non-Marxian economic theories.
Wolff's work with Resnick took Louis Althusser
and Étienne Balibar
's Reading Capital
as its point of departure and developed a subtle reading of Karl Marx
's Capital
Volumes II and III in their influential Knowledge and Class. For the authors, Marxian class analysis entails the detailed study of the conditions of existences of concrete forms of performance, appropriation, and distribution of surplus labor. While there could be an infinite number of forms of surplus appropriation, the Marxist canon refers to ancient (independent), slave, feudal, capitalist, and communist class processes.
In 1989, Wolff joined efforts with a group of colleagues, ex- and then current students to launch Rethinking Marxism
, an academic journal that aims to create a platform for rethinking and developing Marxian concepts and theories within economics as well as other fields of social inquiry. He continues to serve as a member of both the editorial and the advisory boards of the journal.
Wolff was a visiting professor in spring 1994 at University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. Wolff continues to teach graduate seminars and undergraduate courses and direct dissertation research in economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
and, most recently, in the graduate program in international affairs (GPIA) at The New School
.
Wolff was a founding member of the Green Party
of New Haven, Connecticut, and its mayoral candidate in 1985. In 2011, he called for the establishment of a broad-based left-wing
mass party in the United States. Wolff, especially since 2008, gives many public lectures throughout the United States and other countries. He is regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum
. Particularly outside the United States, Wolff is increasingly a guest on television and radio news programs, and, within the U.S., has appeared on Democracy Now!
and The Real News. He also writes for Monthly Review
and contributes to Truthout. Wolff hosts a weekly radio program on economics and society, Economic Update, at WBAI
in New York City.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
economist, well-known for his work on Marxian economics
Marxian economics
Marxian economics refers to economic theories on the functioning of capitalism based on the works of Karl Marx. Adherents of Marxian economics, particularly in academia, distinguish it from Marxism as a political ideology and sociological theory, arguing that Marx's approach to understanding the...
, economic methodology
Economic methodology
Economic methodology is the study of methods, especially the scientific method, in relation to economics, including principles underlying economic reasoning...
, and class analysis
Class analysis
Class analysis is research in sociology, politics and economics from the point of view of the stratification of the society into dynamic classes...
.
Early and personal life
He earned a B.A. magna cum laude in history from HarvardHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1963 and moved on to Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(he attained a M.A. in economics in 1964) to study with Paul A. Baran
Paul A. Baran
Paul Alexander Baran was an American economist known for his Marxist views. In 1951 Baran was promoted to full professor at Stanford University and Baran was the only tenured Marxist economist in the United States until his death in 1964...
. Baran died prematurely from a heart attack in 1964 and Wolff transferred to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he received a M.A. in economics in 1966, M.A. in history in 1967, and a Ph.D. in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
in 1969. As a graduate student at Yale, Wolff worked as an instructor. His dissertation, "The Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya" was eventually published in book form in 1974.
In addition to his native English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Wolff is fluent in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Wolff is married to (and sometimes co-authors with) psychoanalyst Harriet Fraad with whom he has two adult children.
Professional life
Wolff taught at the City College of New YorkCity College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
from 1969–1973. Here he started his life-long collaboration with fellow economist Stephen Resnick
Stephen Resnick
Stephen A. Resnick is a North American heterodox economist. He is well-known for his work on Marxian economics, economic methodology, and class analysis.- Biography :...
, who arrived in 1971 after being denied tenure at Yale for signing an anti-war petition. Both would then be part, along with Samuel Bowles
Samuel Bowles
Samuel Bowles may refer to:*Samuel Bowles *Samuel Bowles...
, Herbert Gintis
Herbert Gintis
Herbert Gintis is an American behavioral scientist, educator, and author. He is notable for his foundational views on Altruism, Cooperation, Epistemic Game Theory, Gene-culture coevolution, Efficiency wages, Strong reciprocity, and Human capital theory. Gintis has also written extensively on...
, and Rick Edwards, of the "radical package" that was hired in 1973 by the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
, where Wolff has been full professor since 1981.
The first co-authored academic publication of Wolff and Resnick was "The Theory of Transitional Conjunctures and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism" which laid out the pillars of the framework that they have worked on ever since. In it, they formulated a non-determinist
Determinism
Determinism is the general philosophical thesis that states that for everything that happens there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could happen. There are many versions of this thesis. Each of them rests upon various alleged connections, and interdependencies of things and...
, class analytical approach for understanding the debates regarding the transition from feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
to capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. Their topics have included Marxian theory and value analysis, overdetermination
Overdetermination
Overdetermination, the idea that a single observed effect is determined by multiple causes at once , was originally a key concept of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis....
, radical economics, international trade, business cycles, social formations, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and comparing and contrasting Marxian and non-Marxian economic theories.
Wolff's work with Resnick took Louis Althusser
Louis Althusser
Louis Pierre Althusser was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy....
and Étienne Balibar
Étienne Balibar
Étienne Balibar is a French Marxist philosopher. After the death of his teacher Louis Althusser, Balibar quickly became the leading exponent of French Marxist philosophy.- Life and work :...
's Reading Capital
Reading Capital
Reading Capital is a 1965 work of Marxist philosophy and theory. The book collects essays developed by Louis Althusser and his students in a seminar on Karl Marx's Das Kapital which took place earlier in 1965...
as its point of departure and developed a subtle reading of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
's Capital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
Volumes II and III in their influential Knowledge and Class. For the authors, Marxian class analysis entails the detailed study of the conditions of existences of concrete forms of performance, appropriation, and distribution of surplus labor. While there could be an infinite number of forms of surplus appropriation, the Marxist canon refers to ancient (independent), slave, feudal, capitalist, and communist class processes.
In 1989, Wolff joined efforts with a group of colleagues, ex- and then current students to launch Rethinking Marxism
Rethinking Marxism
Rethinking Marxism is a Marxist quarterly journal of economics, culture and society. It was launched in 1988 and since 2003 it has been published by Taylor and Francis....
, an academic journal that aims to create a platform for rethinking and developing Marxian concepts and theories within economics as well as other fields of social inquiry. He continues to serve as a member of both the editorial and the advisory boards of the journal.
Wolff was a visiting professor in spring 1994 at University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. Wolff continues to teach graduate seminars and undergraduate courses and direct dissertation research in economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
and, most recently, in the graduate program in international affairs (GPIA) at The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
.
Wolff was a founding member of the Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
of New Haven, Connecticut, and its mayoral candidate in 1985. In 2011, he called for the establishment of a broad-based left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
mass party in the United States. Wolff, especially since 2008, gives many public lectures throughout the United States and other countries. He is regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum
Brecht Forum
The Brecht Forum is an independent Marxist educational and cultural center in New York City, named after German writer Bertold Brecht. Throughout the year, the Forum offers a wide-ranging program of classes, public lectures and seminars, art exhibitions, performances, popular education workshops,...
. Particularly outside the United States, Wolff is increasingly a guest on television and radio news programs, and, within the U.S., has appeared on Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
and The Real News. He also writes for Monthly Review
Monthly Review
Monthly Review is an independent Marxist journal published 11 times per year in New York City.-History:The publication was founded by Harvard University economics instructor Paul Sweezy, who became the first editor...
and contributes to Truthout. Wolff hosts a weekly radio program on economics and society, Economic Update, at WBAI
WBAI
WBAI, a part of the Pacifica Radio Network, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, broadcasting at 99.5 FM in New York City.Its programming is leftist/progressive, and a mixture of political news and opinion from a leftist perspective, tinged with aspects of its complex and varied...
in New York City.
Talks
- Capitalism Hits the Fan - Richard Wolff at Brown University.
- Hamsphire's 3rd Annual Eric Schocket Lecture.
External links
- Richard D. Wolff's website
- Richard D. Wolff's UMASS webpage (with Stephen A Resnick)
- Wolff's faculty profile at The New School
- Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture and Society
- Curriculum Vitae of Rick Wolff
- Capitalism Hits the Fan - A Lecture by Rick Wolff on the financial crisis of 2008
- Resistance and Austerity in Europe at The Real News, 27 July 2011
- Hudson/Wolff on Debt and Recession at The Real News, 9 May 2011
- European Workers Distance from US Through Action, at The Real News, 2010
- Obama should force the votes on health care at The Real News, 21 October 2009
- Richard Wolff: Too big to fail, too big to be privately owned at The Real News, November 2009
- Recovery for whom? at The Real News, 14 August 2009
- Is Chinese "miracle" real? at The Real News, 2 August 2009
- Tax the rich to pay for health care? at The Real News, 2009
- Profits driving stocks a sign of danger at The Real News, 28 July 2009
- Richard Wolff: Too big to fail, too big to be privately owned, The Real News, 5 May 2009
- A house of credit cards at The Real News, 17 March 2009