Title: Albert O. Hirschman: an intellectual biography
Abstract:It could be said that Albert O. Hirschman produced some of the most innovative and challenging work in the social sciences in the twentieth century. Though formally trained as an economist, Hirschman'...It could be said that Albert O. Hirschman produced some of the most innovative and challenging work in the social sciences in the twentieth century. Though formally trained as an economist, Hirschman's writings and legacy extend across many disciplines and subfields. The title of one of his best-known essay collections, Essays in trespassing: economics to politics and beyond (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), perhaps best captures his embrace of intellectual wandering. Any of us would hope, in a long career, to develop just one idea with as much frisson as any from among Hirschman's crowded trove. A selective list of his most powerful insights and conceptual frames includes the following: the Hiding Hand; the tunnel effect; unbalanced intervention as opposed to grand programmes of social engineering; the influence effect in asymmetric international relations; possibilism as opposed to futilism; appreciation for the utility of messiness and complexity rather than the celebration of contrived parsimony; the centrality of uncertainty, doubt, humility and experimentation; and learning by doing and learning from others.Read More
Publication Year: 2022
Publication Date: 2022-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 5
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