Book Description

This volume presents selections from the work of Abram L. Harris (1899-1963), acknowledged as the first black American economist to achieve prominence in academic life. Between 1927 and 1945 he served on the faculty at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Thereafter, he was a professor in the College at the University of Chicago. During the Howard years, Harris was a central figure among a remarkable group of black social scientists clustered at that institution. He influenced the thought and work of Ralph Bunche, E. Franklin Frazier, and Eric Williams. A frequent contributor to professional journals in economics, especially the "Journal of Political Economy, "Harris was recognized as perhaps the foremost expert on the comparative analysis of alternative approaches in economics. "Race, Radicalism, and Reform "includes an introduction by the editor that provides a chronology of Harris' life and an assessment of his scholarly contributions. A diverse array of Harris' papers is contained in the volume covering all the major themes he addressed in the course of a lifetime of research: the "Negro problem" in the United States, the interaction between race and class, controversies in American economic history, Marx and Marxism, the nature and content of institutional economics, and the economics of John Stuart Mill. What results is a comprehensive view of Harris' work, affording insight into important transitions in his thinking about radicalism and social reform. In particular, the book chronicles his movement from a left orientation in his youth to a moderate libertarianism in his later years.