Walter Galenson
Encyclopedia
Walter Galenson was a professor of economics at Cornell University
and a noted economist and labor historian
.
in 1934, his master of science in 1935 and his Ph.D. in 1940—all from Columbia University
.
He married, and he and his wife Marjorie (also a professor of economics) had a son, David Galenson
, and two daughters.
During World War II, Galenson was an economist United States Department of War
. He was the principal economist for the department from 1942 to 1943. He then became principal economist with the Office of Strategic Services
(the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency
), from 1943 to 1944.
After the war, Galenson was a labor attaché at the American embassies in Norway
and Denmark
from 1945 to 1946.
in 1946.
Galenson left Harvard in 1951 and took a position as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley
. From 1957 to 1961, he was chair of the Center for Chinese Studies at UC-Berkeley. Galenson left in 1965, one of many prominent academics who left Berkeley after being accused by students of being too conservative. Galenson took a position as a visiting professor of economics at Cornell University
.
Galenson became increasingly active in labor and Third World
economic development issues. From 1961 to 1971, he served as a consultant to the International Labor Organization (ILO). He served as the U.S. delegate to the ILO in 1972 and again in 1976.
In 1966, Galenson joined the faculty at Cornell permanently as a professor of economics. In 1976, he was appointed Jacob Gould Schurman professor of economics.
In 1970, Galenson spent an academic year as Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions
at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He the first non-historian to hold the post. While teaching at Cambridge, he was awarded a second master's degree by that university in 1971.
From 1971 to 1972, Galenson served as a consultant in economic development to the government of Indonesia
.
In 1974, Galenson was appointed a visiting professor of economics at Göteborg University.
Galenson retired from teaching in 1990.
He died in his sleep on December 30, 1999, in Washington, D.C..
, labor economics, and the economics of development in emerging markets.
Galenson's primary reputation was based on his work in comparative labor economics. He made the first serious study by a Westerner of labor productivity in the Soviet Union
. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he directed a large research project, financed by the Ford Foundation
, on the economic development of the Chinese economy—one of the first studies of the modernization of the Chinese economy and its effect on surrounding nations. His 1964 book, The Quality of Labour and Economic Development in Certain Countries: A Preliminary Study, was a pioneering study of how the living conditions of people in the Third World affected economic development in industrialized nations. Galenson was also internationally recognized as an expert on trade unionism and economics in Scandinavia
.
However, Galenson's work as a labor historian was significant. His 1960 book, The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, is still cited as one of the fundamental works in the field. Galenson promoted the view that the Taft-Hartley Act
and the anti-communism of the 1950s sundered the coalition labor had with political leftists, and contributed significantly to the decline of the labor movement. The view, controversial at the time, is widely adopted today. Galenson is also one of the few labor historians to study the history of the American labor movement in the post-AFL-CIO merger era. His 1996 work, The American Labor Movement, 1955–1995, covers the AFL-CIO's efforts in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s—a largely neglected period of labor history.
His 1981 study of the U.S. policy toward the International Labor Organization remains the most valuable work on that topic.
. In 1954, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in economics.
Galenson was a member of the American Philological Association
. He was also a member of the Association for Comparative Economic Studies, and served as that organization's president in 1973.
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and a noted economist and labor historian
Labor history (discipline)
Labor history is a broad field of study concerned with the development of the labor movement and the working class. The central concerns of labor historians include the development of labor unions, strikes, lockouts and protest movements, industrial relations, and the progress of working class and...
.
Education and early career
He received his bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1934, his master of science in 1935 and his Ph.D. in 1940—all from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
He married, and he and his wife Marjorie (also a professor of economics) had a son, David Galenson
David Galenson
David W. Galenson is a professor in the Department of Economics and the College at the University of Chicago, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research...
, and two daughters.
During World War II, Galenson was an economist United States Department of War
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
. He was the principal economist for the department from 1942 to 1943. He then became principal economist with the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
), from 1943 to 1944.
After the war, Galenson was a labor attaché at the American embassies in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
from 1945 to 1946.
Academic career
Galenson won an appointment as an assistant professor of economics at Harvard UniversityHarvard 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 1946.
Galenson left Harvard in 1951 and took a position as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. From 1957 to 1961, he was chair of the Center for Chinese Studies at UC-Berkeley. Galenson left in 1965, one of many prominent academics who left Berkeley after being accused by students of being too conservative. Galenson took a position as a visiting professor of economics at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
.
Galenson became increasingly active in labor and Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
economic development issues. From 1961 to 1971, he served as a consultant to the International Labor Organization (ILO). He served as the U.S. delegate to the ILO in 1972 and again in 1976.
In 1966, Galenson joined the faculty at Cornell permanently as a professor of economics. In 1976, he was appointed Jacob Gould Schurman professor of economics.
In 1970, Galenson spent an academic year as Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions
Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions
The Pitt Professorship of American History and Institutions was established on 5 February 1944 from a sum of £44,000 received from the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press in 1943 and augmented by a further £5,000 in 1946...
at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He the first non-historian to hold the post. While teaching at Cambridge, he was awarded a second master's degree by that university in 1971.
From 1971 to 1972, Galenson served as a consultant in economic development to the government of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
In 1974, Galenson was appointed a visiting professor of economics at Göteborg University.
Galenson retired from teaching in 1990.
He died in his sleep on December 30, 1999, in Washington, D.C..
Research work
Galenson's research focused on labor history, comparative labor studiesInternational comparisons of labor unions
Unions have been compared across countries by growth and decline patterns, by violence levels, and by kinds of political activity.-Union growth and decline comparisons:...
, labor economics, and the economics of development in emerging markets.
Galenson's primary reputation was based on his work in comparative labor economics. He made the first serious study by a Westerner of labor productivity in 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....
. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he directed a large research project, financed by the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, on the economic development of the Chinese economy—one of the first studies of the modernization of the Chinese economy and its effect on surrounding nations. His 1964 book, The Quality of Labour and Economic Development in Certain Countries: A Preliminary Study, was a pioneering study of how the living conditions of people in the Third World affected economic development in industrialized nations. Galenson was also internationally recognized as an expert on trade unionism and economics in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
.
However, Galenson's work as a labor historian was significant. His 1960 book, The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, is still cited as one of the fundamental works in the field. Galenson promoted the view that the Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act
The Labor–Management Relations Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S...
and the anti-communism of the 1950s sundered the coalition labor had with political leftists, and contributed significantly to the decline of the labor movement. The view, controversial at the time, is widely adopted today. Galenson is also one of the few labor historians to study the history of the American labor movement in the post-AFL-CIO merger era. His 1996 work, The American Labor Movement, 1955–1995, covers the AFL-CIO's efforts in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s—a largely neglected period of labor history.
His 1981 study of the U.S. policy toward the International Labor Organization remains the most valuable work on that topic.
Awards and memberships
In 1950, Galenson was named a Fullbright fellowFulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
. In 1954, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in economics.
Galenson was a member of the American Philological Association
American Philological Association
The American Philological Association , founded in 1869, is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization...
. He was also a member of the Association for Comparative Economic Studies, and served as that organization's president in 1973.
Solely authored books
- The American Labor Movement, 1955–1995. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. ISBN 0-313-29677-4
- The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960. ISBN 0-674-13150-9
- The Danish System of Labor Relations: A Study in Industrial Peace. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1952.
- The International Labor Organization: An American View. 1st ed. Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981. ISBN 0-299-08544-9
- Labor in Norway. New York City: Russell & Russell, 1949.
- The Quality of Labour and Economic Development in Certain Countries: A Preliminary Study. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, 1964.
- Trade Union Democracy in Western Europe. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1961.
- Trade Union Growth and Decline: An International Study. 1st ed. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-275-94325-9
- The United Brotherhood of Carpenters: The First Hundred Years. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass." Harvard University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-674-92196-8
- The World's Strongest Trade Unions: The Scandinavian Labor Movement. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998. ISBN 1-56720-183-0
Co-authored books
- Adams, John Clarke and Galenson, Walter. Comparative Labor Movements. New York City: Prentice Hall, 1952.
- Galenson, Walter and Lipset, Seymour Martin. Labor and Trade Unionism: An Interdisciplinary Reader. New York City: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1960.
Solely edited books
- Comparative Labor Movements. Galenson, Walter, ed. 2nd ed. New York City: Russell & Russell Publishers, 1968. ISBN 0-8462-1064-9
Co-edited books
- Dunlop, John T. and Galenson, Walter, eds. Labor in the Twentieth Century. New York: Academic Press, 1978. ISBN 0-12-224350-1