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Richard D. Wolff

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For other people named Richard Wolff, see Richard Wolff (disambiguation).

Richard D. Wolff
Wolff in 2015
Born
Richard David Wolff

(1942-04-01) April 1, 1942 (age 83)[2]
Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.[2]
Education
SpouseHarriet Fraad[8]
Children2
Academic career
Field
Institution
School or
tradition		Marxian economics
Influences
Contributions
Wolff's voice
On education
Websiterdwolff.com Edit this at Wikidata
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Richard David Wolff (born April 1, 1942) is an American Marxian economist known for his work on economic methodology and class analysis. He is a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor in the graduate program in international affairs at the New School. Wolff has also taught economics at Yale University, City University of New York, University of Utah, University of Paris I (Sorbonne), and The Brecht Forum in New York City.

In 1988, Wolff co-founded the journal Rethinking Marxism. In 2010, he published Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It, which was also released on DVD. In 2012, he released three new books: Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism, with David Barsamian (San Francisco: City Lights Books); Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian, with Stephen Resnick; and Democracy at Work (Chicago: Haymarket Books). In 2019, he released his book Understanding Marxism.[9]

Wolff hosts the weekly 30-minute-long program Economic Update, produced by the non-profit Democracy at Work, which he co-founded. Economic Update is on YouTube, Free Speech TV, WBAI-FM in New York City (Pacifica Radio), CUNY TV or Cuny Television (WNYE-DT3), and available as a podcast. Wolff is featured regularly in television, print, and internet media. The New York Times Magazine has named him "America's most prominent Marxist economist".[10] Wolff lives in Manhattan with his wife and frequent collaborator, Harriet Fraad, a practicing psychotherapist.

Early life and education

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To escape Nazism, Wolff's parents, both Jewish German citizens, emigrated to the United States during World War II.[11] His father, who was acquainted with Max Horkheimer, [citation needed] was a lawyer in Cologne, Germany, but became a steelworker in Youngstown, Ohio.[citation needed] The family eventually settled in New Rochelle, New York, just outside New York City.[citation needed] Wolff states that his European background influenced his worldview:

"Everything you expect about how the world works probably will be changed in your life, that unexpected things happen, often tragic things happen, and being flexible, being aware of a whole range of different things that happen in the world, is not just a good idea as a thinking person, but it's crucial to your survival. So, for me, I grew up convinced that understanding the political and economic environment I lived in was an urgent matter that had to be done, and made me a little different from many of my fellow kids in school who didn't have that sense of the urgency of understanding how the world worked to be able to navigate an unstable and often dangerous world. That was a very important lesson for me."[12]

Wolff earned a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in history from Harvard College in 1963.[citation needed] He moved to Stanford University to study with Paul A. Baran, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in economics in 1964.[citation needed] Baran died in 1964, and Wolff transferred to Yale University, where he received a second master's degree in economics in 1966, a Master of Arts in history in 1967, and a Doctor of Philosophy in economics in 1969.[citation needed] As a graduate student at Yale, Wolff worked as an instructor.[2][better source needed] His dissertation, "Economic Aspects of British Colonialism in Kenya, 1895–1930",[13] was published in book form in 1974.[14]

Academic career

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Wolff taught at the City College of New York from 1969 to 1973; there he began a long-term collaboration with fellow economist Stephen Resnick, who arrived in 1971 after being denied tenure at Yale for signing an anti-war petition.[15][verification needed] Wolff and Resnick, along with Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Rick Edwards, were part of a group of economists sometimes referred to as the "radical package"[This quote needs a citation] hired in 1973 by the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA), where Wolff had been a full professor since 1981.[citation needed] Wolff retired in 2008, and that same year he joined The New School as a visiting professor; as of this date,[when?] he remains professor emeritus at UMA.[citation needed]

The first co-authored academic publication by Wolff and Resnick was "The Theory of Transitional Conjunctures and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism,"[original research?][16][non-primary source needed] in which they presented principles and arguments that informed their later works. They formulated a non-determinist, class-analytical approach for understanding debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to capitalism. They have discussed Marxian theory and value analysis, overdetermination, radical economics, international trade, business cycles, social formations, and the Soviet Union; and have compared and contrasted Marxian and non-Marxian economic theories.

Wolff's collaboration with Resnick began with an engagement with Louis Althusser and Étienne Balibar's Reading Capital and extended to an interpretation of Karl Marx's Capital Volumes II and III, presented in their work Knowledge and Class. According to their analysis, Marxian class theory is understood to involve the study of the conditions under which specific forms of performance, appropriation, and distribution of surplus labor occur. The authors propose that while there could be a wide variety of forms of surplus appropriation, the Marxist tradition typically focuses on addressing ancient (independent), slave, feudal, capitalist, and communist class processes.

Marx used the word "exploitation" to focus analytical attention on what capitalism shared with feudalism and slavery, something that capitalist revolutions against slavery and feudalism never overcame.

— Richard D. Wolff[17]

In 1989, Wolff joined with a group of colleagues and students to launch Rethinking Marxism, an academic journal that aimed to explore and further examine Marxian concepts and theories within economics as well as other fields of social inquiry. He served as a member of the editorial board of the journal for more than two decades. Currently, as of April 15 2025,,[when?] he continues to serve as a member of the advisory board of the journal.

In the spring of 1994, Wolff become a visiting professor at University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. As of this date,[when?] Wolff continues to teach graduate seminars and undergraduate courses and direct dissertation research in economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and, most recently, in the graduate program in international affairs (GPIA) at The New School.

Wolff was a founding member of the Green Party branch in New Haven, Connecticut,[citation needed] and the party's mayoral candidate for that community in 1985.[18] In 2011, he advocated for the creation of a new political party with broad left-wing support in the United States.[19] Since 2008, Wolff has given public lectures in various locations in the United States and abroad. He is a regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum. Wolff is also often a guest on television and radio news programs and, within the United States, has made appearances on television and radio programs and contributed to various publications and websites.[20][better source needed] Furthermore, in 2011 Wolff hosted a weekly radio/TV show and podcast on economics and society, Economic Update, at WBAI in New York City.[21]

One of his students, George Papandreou, served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. Wolff remembers Papandreou as a student who "sought then to become both a sophisticated and a socialist economist."[22][better source needed] However, CUNY Economics professor Costas Panayotakis observed that "after being elected Greek prime minister in the fall of 2009 on a platform that excoriated austerity as the wrong kind of policy to be adopted at a time of deep economic crisis, George Papandreou has reversed himself and, faced with a debt crisis, called in the International Monetary Fund and implemented an austerity program widely criticized for its severity."[23]

Projects

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Wolff is a co-founder of Democracy at Work, a non-profit that produces media and live events advocating workplace democracy and critiquing capitalism.[24] The organization is based on his 2012 book, Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism. Wolff also hosts the nationally syndicated program Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff, which is produced by Democracy at Work.[25]

Reception

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In a review of Wolff's book Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism, Hans G. Despain, writing for Marx and Philosophy, argued that the ideas presented in the book "deserve wide support and wide debate to repoliticize the American population and rejuvenate the American workforce and citizens."[26]

Personal life

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In addition to his native English, Wolff is fluent in French and German.[2] Wolff lives in New York City with his wife, Harriet Fraad, a psychotherapist. They have two children.[20]

In an interview on The Jimmy Dore Show in January 2021, Wolff stated that he is a distant relative of the German political activist Wilhelm Wolff, to whom the first volume of Karl Marx's Das Kapital was dedicated.[27]

Works

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  • Wolff, Richard D. (1974). The Economics of Colonialism. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01639-5.
  • Stephen A. Resnick; Richard D. Wolff (1985). Rethinking Marxism: Essays for Harry Magdoff and Paul Sweezy. NY: Autonomedia.
  • Wolff, Richard D.; Stephen A. Resnick (1987). Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0-8018-3479-1.
  • Resnick, Stephen A.; Richard D. Wolff (1987). Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-71021-1.
  • Fraad, Harriet; Richard Wolff; Stephen Resnick (1994). Bringing It All Back Home: Class, Gender and Power in the Modern Household. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-0707-8.
  • Wolff, Richard D.; Stephen Resnick; David F. Ruccio (1988). Crisis and Transitions: A Critique of the International Economic Order. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-0757-0.
  • Gibson-Graham, J.K.; Stephen A. Resnick; Richard D. Wolff (2000). Class and Its Others. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota University Press. ISBN 0-8166-3618-4.
  • Gibson-Graham, J.K.; Stephen A. Resnick; Richard D. Wolff (2001). Re/Presenting Class: Essays in Postmodern Marxism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2709-0.
  • Resnick, Stephen A.; Richard D. Wolff (2002). Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR. NY: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93317-X.
  • Resnick, Stephen A.; Richard D. Wolff (2006). New Departures in Marxian Theory. NY: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-77025-4.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2009). Capitalism Hits the Fan. Olive Branch Press. ISBN 978-1-56656-784-8.
  • Wolff, Richard D.; Stephen A. Resnick (2012). Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262018005.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2012). Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism. Chicago: Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1608462476.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2016). Capitalism's Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown. Chicago: Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1608465958.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2019). Understanding Marxism. New York: Democracy at Work. ISBN 978-0359467020.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2019). Understanding Socialism. New York: Democracy at Work. ISBN 978-0578227344.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2020). The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself. New York: Democracy at Work.
  • Wolff, Richard D. (2024). Understanding Capitalism. New York: Democracy at Work. ISBN 978-1-7356013-6-6.

Films

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References

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  1. ^ "Richard Wolff | The Guardian". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Wolff, Richard D. (January 1, 2007). "Curriculum Vitae and List of Publications: Richard D. Wolff" (PDF). UMass.edu. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2025.[independent source needed]
  3. ^ Crisis and Openings: Introduction to Marxism (2012) on YouTube
  4. ^ a b Wolff, Richard D. Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy Archived December 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, University of Chicago Press, July 15, 1989, ISBN 978-0226710235
  5. ^ Extended interview with prof. Wolff on how Marxism influences his work Archived October 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Democracy Now!, March 25, 2013
  6. ^ "Prof. Wolff at the Rosa Luxemburg Conference Opening Night, 08/21/15 | Professor Richard D. Wolff". Archived from the original on October 27, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  7. ^ "On Moyers & Company" Archived March 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine by Richard D. Wolff, February 22, 2013
  8. ^ "Richard Wolff – Guests". Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  9. ^ Rampell, Ed (May 22, 2019). "Understanding "Wolff-ism": Prof. Richard Wolff's Take on Karl Marx in New Text". Hollywood Progressive. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  10. ^ Davidson, Adam (February 5, 2012). "It Is Safe to Resume Ignoring the Prophets of Doom ... Right?". The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  11. ^ "Watch Extended Interview with Economist Richard Wolff on How Marxism Influences His Work". Democracy Now!. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  12. ^ Goodman, Amy. "Democracy Now! March 25, 2013, Watch Extended Interview with Economist Richard Wolff on How Marxism Influences His Work". Pacifica Radio. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  13. ^ OCLC 682061093
  14. ^ Wolff, Richard D. (1974). Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya, 1870–1930. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-01639-0.
  15. ^ Bhattacharya, Rajesh; Seda-Irizarry, Ian J. (May 22, 2015). "Re-centering Class in Critical Theory: A Tribute to Stephen A. Resnick (1938–2013)". Review of Radical Political Economics. 47 (4). doi:10.1177/0486613415584572. S2CID 145284702. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  16. ^ Resnick, S.; Wolff, R. (1979). "The Theory of Transitional Conjunctures and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism". Review of Radical Political Economics. 11 (3): 3–22, 32–36.[failed verification][full citation needed]
  17. ^ Wolff, Richard D. (May 26, 2015). Critics of Capitalism Must Include Its Definition Archived May 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Truthout. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  18. ^ Feinstein, Mike & GP CT Staff (2011). "Election History: 131 Green Candidates since 1985". CT.Greens.org. Hartford, CT: Green Party of Connecticut (GP CT). Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  19. ^ Wolff, Richard D. (March 13, 2011). "What's Left of the American Left?". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  20. ^ a b Wolff, Richard D. (August 4, 2017). "About Professor Richard D. Wolff". RDWolff.com. Richard D. Wolff [publisher]. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2025.[independent source needed]
  21. ^ Wolff, Richard D. (producer, host) & WBAI Staff (October 2011). Economic Update—Richard D. Wolff. New York, NY: Pacifica Foundation. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  22. ^ Psychari, Εirene; Wolff, Richard D. (January 24, 2011). "Interview in 'To Vima' Newspaper—Greek Publication". RDWolff.com. Richard D. Wolff [publisher]. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2025.[independent source needed] Note, the author that appears at the citation website is the Greek author, Ειρηνη Ψυχαρη (whose name is presented there as in upper case Greek); it is transliterated here, and Wolff's name is added as interviewee, but also as he appears responsible for the appearance, in English at the citation, of what were originally Greek-language published responses.
  23. ^ Panayotakis, Costas (December 2010). "Capitalism, Socialism, and Economic Democracy: Reflections on Today's Crisis and Tomorrow's Possibilities". Capitalism Nature Socialism (CNS, journal). London, England: Taylor and Francis. Archived from the original on November 5, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2025 – via Envisioning a Post-Capitalist Order: A Collaborative Project. Note, Taylor & Francis publishes the journal, CNS, in which the article appears. The reproduction of the article at the "Envisioning... Project" website is work published in association with Van Gosse at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
  24. ^ "About – Democracy at Work". Democracy at Work. 2013. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  25. ^ "Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff". Liberated Syndication. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  26. ^ "'Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism' reviewed by Hans G Despain". marxandphilosophy.org.uk. November 10, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  27. ^ Wolff, Richard D. (January 13, 2021). "Capitol Insurrection Caused by Capitalism Failure & Rapacious Donor Class -- Dr. Richard Wolff". The Jimmy Dore Show (Interview). Interviewed by Dore, Jimmy. YouTube. Timestamp: 34:00. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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Interviews

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External videos
video icon Capitalism's Stunning Contradiction on YouTube
video icon Abby Martin & Richard Wolff Discuss Socialism in 2019 on YouTube
video icon Professor Richard Wolff: Does COVID Crash Show Capitalism Has Finally Failed? on YouTube
video icon Does Capitalism Actually Reduce Poverty? (with Richard Wolff) on YouTube
video icon Richard Wolff: Marxism and Communism (Lex Fridman Podcast, 2022) on YouTube
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