Hischmann, a famous economist.
Albert Hirschman was one of the most important economists and thinkers of the last century. His research fields are extremely wide, including economic development , political economy, Latin American economy, organizational theory, intellectual history, political philosophy, etc. His political attitude is also very clear: the "Western" left, with a moderate idealistic color, highly recognizes the core concepts such as economic development, equality, and social progress, and perseveres.
is different from the relatively ordinary life of most top scholars, Hirschmann's life itself is full of legends. On April 7, 1915, Hirschmann was born in a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. His father was a surgeon. From childhood to youth, Hirschmann experienced huge social unrest in Germany between the two world wars of and . So when he was a teenager, he began to read a large number of difficult social sciences and philosophical works, including Marx and Lenin. In 1932, Hirschmann entered to study at Humboldt University in Berlin. A year later, Hitler became the German Chancellor. In order to avoid the anti-Semitic wave, Hitchmann left Germany and instead studied at the Paris University in France, and began a " stateless person" exile and study career.
1935, Hirschmann went to London School of Political Science and Economics to study for one year due to his scholarship. During this period, he listened to classes including Robbins and Hayek , took the courses of history of economic thought and international economics , and turned to free market theory. After a year of further study, Hirschmann went to the University of Trieste, Italy to study and supported the underground struggle against Mussolini , and went to Barcelona to support the Spanish Republican army in confronting Franco .
1938, Hirschmann received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Trieste, Italy. After the outbreak of " World War II " in 1939, Hirschmann returned to France and joined the French Army to fight against the German Nazis. After France surrendered in 1940, Hirschmann had to hide his identity and went into exile after several twists and turns to participate in underground resistance activities. He also joined an emergency rescue committee organized by the United States to forge certificates for Jews and intellectuals, apply for visas, formulate escape routes, arrange transits, and escort them to escape from the clutches of the German army. Therefore, many European intellectuals, including political scientist Hannah Arendt , anthropologist Levi Strauss, and painter Duchamp, were able to flee to the United States. In December 1940, worried about the Nazi raid, Hirschmann had to leave Marseille, hike over the Pyrenees, and flee to New York, USA in January 1941. After arriving in the United States, Hirschmann was engaged in international economics research at the University of California, Berkeley and met a girl from a wealthy Jewish business family. The two got married.
1943, Hirschman enlisted in San Francisco, USA, and then joined US intelligence agency . He was also sent to North Africa , and then attacked Italy with the Allies. Hirschmann served as the German translator in the army and also participated in the Nuremberg Trial . Hirschmann obtained U.S. nationality because he joined US Army . After retiring from the army as a non-commissioned officer in 1946, Heschmann returned to , Washington, , and sought jobs everywhere. Due to the invitation and recommendation of economist Gershenkron, he joined the Federal Reserve and participated in the formulation and implementation of the Marshall Plan. In 1952, Hirschmann, who was tired of working at the Federal Reserve, was invited to the Colombian capital, Bogota, and served as an economic adviser to the Colombian government. He then opened a private consulting firm in Colombia.
1956, Hirschmann was invited by Yale , where he visited for two years. This also allowed him to truly enter the core of American academic circles. After the two-year visit, he was soon hired as a professor at Columbia University, thus not only becoming colleagues with many outstanding economists, but also becoming friends with political scientists Huntington, although the two had huge differences on the modernization and reform of in developing countries.After that, Gershencroon poached Hirschmann to , Harvard University , and thus, Hirschmann became the chair professor of political economy by Lucius Litaur. In 1974, Hirschmann officially joined the Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies and worked there until his retirement in 1985.
In June 11996, Hirschmann went to the Alps for a tour after completing a lecture on Vienna . Unexpectedly, on the way down the mountain, he was tripped and fell to the ground, and his head hit a stone. The doctor confirmed that he had a cerebral hematoma. Since then, Hirschmann's language skills have been compromised and he has never written any academic works. On December 10, 2012, 97-year-old Hirschman died in New Jersey, USA.
works
Hirschmann's life works are all forever. Unfortunately, overall, his main works on economic development now seem outdated. However, some of Hirschmann's other works are still shining.
His most famous works include:
1. "The Structure of National Strength and Foreign Trade" (1945). This book is considered to be the foundation work of the modern " International Political Economy ".
2. "Economic Development Strategy" (1958). This book is very famous, but looking back now, after World War II until the 1970s, my understanding of economic development was still very superficial and basically did not touch on profound institutional issues.
3. "Desire and Benefit" (1977). As a work on history of thought, this book can be said to be an extension and response to Weber's " Protestant Ethics and Capitalist Spirit ". In a sense, this book is also part of the criticism of Whig's myth.
4. "Reactionary Rhetoric" (1991). This book can be said to be a profound criticism of Reaganism and Thatcherism .
In his articles, I recommend two:
1.The Search for Paradigms as a Hindrance to Understanding Author(s). This article is one of my favorite articles and one of the recommended readings in my research and design courses. This article warns us that the pursuit of theory or paradigm should not hinder our understanding of the real world.
2.Social Conflicts as Pillars of Democratic Market Society. This article may not be particularly famous in the political theory community, but his understanding of social conflict as a pillar of a "Western democratic" society is very illuminating and inspired a study I am doing.
There is no doubt (at least I think so), that Hirschmann's greatest work (although there are many regrets) is "Exit, Protest and Loyalty". Even if Hirschmann had no other works, this book was enough to keep him famous in history. This book is the first work to understand the political logic behind the rise and fall of an organization (from company to organization, to country) from the perspective of organization behavior . I personally think that this book is a must-read enlightenment book for anyone trying to manage an organizer. The next short article will introduce and discuss his masterpiece in detail.
(This article introduces Hirschmann’s life, and refers to the book "The Philosopher of the World")
Tang Shiping
