Download This PaperAlbert O. Hirschman
To be published in Elgar Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Development, edited by Jayati Ghosh, Rainer Kattel & Erik Reinert, 2016, Forthcoming
24 Pages Posted: 16 Sep 2015 Last revised: 13 Oct 2015
Date Written: September 13, 2015
Abstract
Albert O. Hirschman (1915-2012), is recognized as one of the most well-rounded and interdisciplinary social scientists of the postwar era. After fleeing Germany as a young opponent to the Nazi regime, he moved across countries, languages, and disciplinary boundaries. He was a pioneer of development economics and other social sciences, to which he contributed with exemplary analyses of the processes and mechanisms of political, economic, and social change. This paper discusses Hirschman's contribution to the early development debate, the relevance and importance of early development debates such as the balanced- vs. unbalanced-growth diatribe, and Hirschman's trajectory in relation to the trajectory of the disciplinary field of development economics.
Keywords: Albert Hirschman, Development economics
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