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Winner, 2023 Best Book Award, Italian Association for the History of Economic Thought
One of the most original social scientists of the twentieth century, Albert O. Hirschman led an uncommonly dramatic life. After fleeing Nazi Germany as a youth, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, took part in antifascist activities in Italy, and organized an underground rescue operation in Marseille through which more than 2,000 people, including Marc Chagall, Arthur Koestler, and Hannah Arendt, escaped Europe. Hirschman moved across topics, methodologies, and disciplinary boundaries as fluidly as he did among countries and languages. His work is marked by a deep suspicion of all-encompassing theories, valuing instead doubt and a sensitivity to contingencies and unexpected consequences.
In this intellectual biography, the economic historian Michele Alacevich explores the development and trajectory of Hirschman’s characteristic approach to social-scientific questions. He traces the many strands of Hirschman’s thought and their place in his multifaceted body of work, considering their limitations as well as their strengths. Alacevich puts Hirschman’s ideas into context, following his participation in the major intellectual and political debates of his times. He examines Hirschman’s pioneering work in development studies and his analyses of social change, the history of capitalism, and the workings of democracy alongside his activities in the postwar reconstruction of Europe and economic development in Latin America. A compelling intellectual portrait of a profoundly distinctive thinker, this book also reflects on Hirschman’s legacy and lasting influence.
— Ira Katznelson, author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time
This wonderful book offers new insights on a giant of the social sciences. Alacevich places Hirschman’s work in intellectual context and traces its long arc of influence to our day. The book sheds new light not just on Hirschman’s scholarship but also his iconoclasm, deliberate provocativeness, often frustrating focus on the particular rather than the general, and ‘propensity for self-subversion.’ It therefore helps us understand the sharp contrast between the brilliance of Hirschman’s contributions and his outsider status in the academic disciplines he inhabited or trespassed in.
— Dani Rodrik, author of Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy
A superb examination of the vast legacy of a major 20th-century thinker.
As a historian, biographer Adelman was less attuned to Hirschman’s subsequent career as an economic theorist – of development, democracy, capitalism, and commitment. Alacevich has provided a perfect complement, a study of the works and life of the author of the classic, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty.
— David Warsh
The book serves as an excellent introduction and exegesis, yet also situates each episode of Hirschman’s career within a broader, life-long stream of investigation.
A most valuable introduction to the evolution and character of Hirschman’s theories, innovations, and insights.
Fortunately, with Alacevich as our guide, Hirschman is here to teach us how to navigate responsibly a world that will forever surprise and even confound us.
The book is written in a very accessible style and complex debates long gone by are succinctly summarized and understandable for a non-technical readership.
The writing is clear, sharp, and precise.
Those interested in the trajectory of Hirschman’s contributions to the field of economics will benefit from this lucid and cogent account.
— Sumit Ganguly
Extremely well written, informative and simply a pleasure to read.
Preface
1. The Formation of an International Political Economist
2. The Politics of Power
3. Pioneer of Development
4. Remaking Development Economics
5. An Interdisciplinary Social Science
6. The History and Theory of Market Societies
7. The Working of Democracy
8. The Legacy of Albert Hirschman
Notes
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index