Ronald L. Meek
Encyclopedia
Ronald Lindley Meek (27 July 1917 – 18 August 1978) was a Marxian
economist and social scientist known especially for his scholarly studies of classical political economy
and the labour theory of value.
Meek was born in Wellington
, New Zealand
, where he attended school and entered Victoria University
in the mid-1930s, initially to study law, and later economics. There he became interested in the thought of Karl Marx
, theatre and local left-wing politics. Some of his articles of that period in journals like Spike, Salient
and Tomorrow were written under pseudonyms. In 1939 he graduated with a Masters in Law. In 1944 he married a communist activist, Rona Stephenson (better known as Rona Bailey) though they were soon divorced again. Meek revealed himself to be the brightest Marxian thinker of his generation in New Zealand; his first monograph, a pamphlet called "Maori Problems Today" (1943) discussed a topic which had previously been largely ignored by the Communist Party of New Zealand
.
In 1946 Meek moved to Cambridge
, England with a Strathcona studentship to read for a Ph.D.
under Piero Sraffa
and Maurice Dobb
. Two years later, in October 1948, he moved to Glasgow
, Scotland where he became university lecturer in the Department of Political Economy, and in 1949 he finished his doctoral thesis, "The development of the concept of surplus in economic thought from Mun to Mill". He also remarried and learnt to play the piano.
His first major work, Studies in the Labour Theory of Value, was published by Lawrence & Wishart in 1956. In the same year he quit the Communist Party of Great Britain
and he abandoned his previous support for the policies of Joseph Stalin
, although he continued to be a Marxist until his last years. He was acknowledged to be a scholarly authority on Adam Smith
and on the Physiocrats
.
In 1963 he was appointed to the Tyler Chair of Economics at the University of Leicester
, where he initiated a B.Sc. course in Economics and a Public Sector Economics Research Centre. He published numerous books and articles on classical political economy
, Marxian
and Sraffian economics
, as well as on electricity pricing and social theory
.
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...
economist and social scientist known especially for his scholarly studies of classical political economy
Classical economics
Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought. Its major developers include Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill....
and the labour theory of value.
Meek was born in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, where he attended school and entered Victoria University
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
in the mid-1930s, initially to study law, and later economics. There he became interested in the thought 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...
, theatre and local left-wing politics. Some of his articles of that period in journals like Spike, Salient
Salient (magazine)
Salient is the weekly students' magazine of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Salient was established in 1938 and originally published in newspaper format, but has lately become a magazine. Salient's style and editorial...
and Tomorrow were written under pseudonyms. In 1939 he graduated with a Masters in Law. In 1944 he married a communist activist, Rona Stephenson (better known as Rona Bailey) though they were soon divorced again. Meek revealed himself to be the brightest Marxian thinker of his generation in New Zealand; his first monograph, a pamphlet called "Maori Problems Today" (1943) discussed a topic which had previously been largely ignored by the Communist Party of New Zealand
Communist Party of New Zealand
The Communist Party of New Zealand was a Communist political party in New Zealand from the 1920s to the early 1990s. It never achieved significant political success, and no longer exists as an independent group, although the Socialist Worker organisation is considered organisationally continuous...
.
In 1946 Meek moved to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England with a Strathcona studentship to read for a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
under Piero Sraffa
Piero Sraffa
Piero Sraffa was an influential Italian economist whose book Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities is taken as founding the Neo-Ricardian school of Economics.- Early life :...
and Maurice Dobb
Maurice Dobb
Maurice Herbert Dobb , was a British Marxist economist, and a lecturer 1924-1959 and Reader 1959-1976 at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge 1948-1976.-Life:...
. Two years later, in October 1948, he moved to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland where he became university lecturer in the Department of Political Economy, and in 1949 he finished his doctoral thesis, "The development of the concept of surplus in economic thought from Mun to Mill". He also remarried and learnt to play the piano.
His first major work, Studies in the Labour Theory of Value, was published by Lawrence & Wishart in 1956. In the same year he quit the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
and he abandoned his previous support for the policies of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, although he continued to be a Marxist until his last years. He was acknowledged to be a scholarly authority on Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
and on the Physiocrats
Physiocrats
Physiocracy is an economic theory developed by the Physiocrats, a group of economists who believed that the wealth of nations was derived solely from the value of "land agriculture" or "land development." Their theories originated in France and were most popular during the second half of the 18th...
.
In 1963 he was appointed to the Tyler Chair of Economics at the University of Leicester
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
, where he initiated a B.Sc. course in Economics and a Public Sector Economics Research Centre. He published numerous books and articles on classical political economy
Classical economics
Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought. Its major developers include Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill....
, Marxian
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...
and Sraffian economics
Piero Sraffa
Piero Sraffa was an influential Italian economist whose book Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities is taken as founding the Neo-Ricardian school of Economics.- Early life :...
, as well as on electricity pricing and social theory
Social theory
Social theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
.
Books by Ronald Meek
- Studies in the Labor Theory of Value, 1956
- The Economics of Physiocracy: Essays and Translations, 1962
- Hill-walking in Arran, 1963
- The rise and fall of the concept of the economic machine, 1965
- Economics and Ideology and Other Essays, 1967
- Marx and Engels on the population bomb (selections from the writings of Marx and Engels dealing with the theories of Thomas Robert Malthus. Edited by Ronald L. Meek. Translations from the German by Dorothea L. Meek and Ronald L. Meek), 1971
- Figuring out society, 1971
- Quesnay's Tableau Economique, 1972 (with Margaret Kuczynski)
- Turgot on Progress, Sociology and Economics, 1973
- Precursors of Adam Smith, 1973
- Social Science and the Ignoble Savage, 1976
- Smith, Marx and After: Ten Essays in the Development of Economic Thought, 1977.
- Adam Smith: Lectures in Jurisprudence, 1978 (edited with D.D. Raphael & R.P. Stein)
Selected Articles by Ronald Meek
- "The Rehabilitation of Ricardo", The Listener, 4 Oct 1951
- "New Light on the Labour Theory of Value", The Listener, 7 Aug 1952
- The Scottish Contribution to Marxist Sociology", 1954, in Saville, editor, Democracy and the Labour Movement
- "Adam Smith and the Classical Concept of Profits", June 1954, Scottish Journal of Political Economy
- "The Decline of Ricardian Economics in England", 1950, Economica
- "Stalin as an Economist", 1953, RES
- "Smith, Turgot and the Four Stages Theory", 1971, History of Political Economy 1971
- "Marxism and Marginalism", History of Political Economy 1972
- "The Falling Rate of Profit", 1976, in Howard and King, editor, Economics of Marx
Commentaries on Ronald Meek
- Ian Bradley and Michael Howard, eds., Classical and Marxian Political Economy. Essays in honour of Ronald Meek. London: Macmillan, 1982. (contains a bibliography of Meek's scholarly articles).
- Michael C. Howard and John E. King, “Ronald Meek”, in: History of Political Economy, Volume 35, Number 3, Fall 2003.
- Howard, M.C. & King, J.E. (2001). "Ronald Meek and the rehabilitation of surplus economics", in S.G. Medema & W.J. Samuels (eds), Historians of Economics and Economic Thought, London: Routledge, 185-213.
- "Ronald L. Meek", article in A Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists edited by Philip Arestis and Malcolm C. Sawyer.