Michael Harrington: An American Original

Abstract

Michael Harrington (1928-1989) was an important voice for democratic socialism in the United States. His book on The Other America is often credited for sparking the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations’ focus on the plight of America’s poor. He was also an early supporter and then passionate critic of the Students for Democratic Society, a prominent New Left organization active in the 1960s and 1970s, and played a role in the 1963 March on Washington alongside his colleague Bayard Rustin. Harrington’s forged his philosophy and spirit of social activism while engaged Dorothy Day’s “Catholic Worker” movement, and in many ways personifies the left perspective within U.S. Catholicism.

After an introduction by NLRB Chair Wilma Liebman, Professor Estreicher offers lunch remarks on the evolution and impact of this American original.

Keywords: labor, socialism, Catholic social action, poverty

JEL Classification: B14, B31, D63, H118, 131, 132