Stephen Alvin Resnick (; October 24, 1938 – January 2, 2013) was an American

heterodox In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, w ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He was well known for his work (much of it written together with

Richard D. Wolff Richard David Wolff (born April 1, 1942) is an American Marxian economist known for his work on economic methodology and class analysis. He is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor ...

) on

Marxian economics Marxian economics, or the Marxian school of economics, is a Heterodox economics, heterodox school of political economic thought. Its foundations can be traced back to Karl Marx, Karl Marx's Critique of political economy#Marx's critique of politic ...

economic methodology Economic methodology is the study of methods, especially the scientific method, in relation to economics, including principles underlying economic reasoning. In contemporary English, 'methodology' may reference theoretical or systematic aspe ...

, and

class analysis Class analysis is research in sociology, politics and economics from the point of view of the stratification of the society into dynamic classes. It implies that there is no universal or uniform social outlook, rather that there are fundamental co ...

. His work, along with that of Wolff, is especially associated with a

post-Marxist Post-Marxism is a trend in political philosophy and social theory which deconstructs Karl Marx's writings and Marxism itself, bypassing orthodox Marxism. The term "post-Marxism" first appeared in Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's theoretica ...

and post-

Althusserian Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser ...

perspective on political economy.

Biography

Resnick earned a B.S. in economics from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1960. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. His dissertation was an

econometric analysis Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships.M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8� ...

of the European

Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. His early work (during his tenure at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

between 1965 and 1971) was with

Stephen Hymer Stephen Herbert Hymer (15 November 1934 – 2 February 1974) was a Canadian economist. His research focused on the activities of multinational firms, which was the subject of his PhD dissertation ''The International Operations of National Firms: ...

and focused on issues of economic development and international political economy. After a brief period at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

(1971–1973), Resnick began teaching at the Economics Department of the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

in 1973. He began working with

in this period, and from then until Resnick's death they published numerous articles and books together, formulating a nondeterminist, class analytical approach. Topics included Marxian theory and value analysis, overdetermination, radical economics,

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

business cycle Business cycles are intervals of Economic expansion, expansion followed by recession in economic activity. These changes have implications for the welfare of the broad population as well as for private institutions. Typically business cycles are ...

s, social formations, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and comparing and contrasting Marxian and non-Marxian economic theories. Resnick's work with Wolff took

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser ...

and

Étienne Balibar Étienne Balibar (; ; born 23 April 1942) is a French philosopher. He has taught at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, at the University of California Irvine and is currently an Anniversary Chair Professor at the Centre for Research in Modern Eu ...

's ''

Reading Capital ''Reading Capital'' (french: Lire le Capital) is a 1965 book about the philosopher Karl Marx's ''Das Kapital'' by the philosophers Louis Althusser, Étienne Balibar, and Jacques Rancière, the sociologist Roger Establet, and the critic Pierre Ma ...

'' as its point of departure and developed a very subtle reading of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's ''

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

'' Volumes II and III in their influential ''Knowledge and Class''. In Resnick's work, Marxian class analysis entails the detailed study of the conditions of existences of concrete forms of performance, appropriation, and distribution of

surplus labor Surplus labour (German: ''Mehrarbeit'') is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. It means labour performed in excess of the labour necessary to produce the means of livelihood of the worker ("necessary labour"). The "su ...

. While there could be an infinite number of forms of surplus appropriation, the Marxist canon refers to ancient (independent),

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

, and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

processes. In 1989, Resnick joined efforts with a group of colleagues, ex- and then current students to launch ''

Rethinking Marxism ''Rethinking Marxism'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Marxist analyses of economics, culture, and society. It was established in 1988 and has been published by Routledge since 2003 on behalf of the Association for Econom ...

'', an academic journal that aims to create a platform for rethinking and developing Marxian concepts and theories within economics as well as other fields of social inquiry. He remained a member of the editorial board of the journal until 1994, and continued thereafter to serve as a member of the advisory board of the journal. Resnick continued to teach graduate seminars and undergraduate courses and direct dissertation research in economics at the

until 2013. He received multiple teaching awards and taught classes in economic theory, economic development, and economic history. Resnick listed his primary research interests as Marxian theory and

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

. Resnick died on January 2, 2013, as a result of leukemia.

Bibliography

Notable works of Stephen Resnick include: * Richard D. Wolff and Stephen A. Resnick. ''Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical'' (Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1987). * Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. ''Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy'' (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987). * J.K. Gibson-Graham, Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. ''Class and Its Others'' (Minnesota University Press, Minneapolis, 2000). * J.K. Gibson-Graham, Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. ''Re/Presenting Class: Essays in Postmodern Marxism'' (Duke University Press, Durham NC, 2001). * Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. ''Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR'' (Routledge, NY, 2002). * Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. ''New Departures in Marxian Theory (Economics as Social Theory'' (Routledge, NY, 2006). * Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff. ''Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian'' (The MIT Press, 2012).

Videos

"Course on Marxian Economics"

"Course on Socialist Economics"

"Past Present and Future of the Economics Department"
Round table with Resnick, Katzner, Bowles
"Memorial for Stephen Resnick"
Remarks of Richard D. Wolff
"The POLITICS of OUR 40-YEAR COLLABORATION"

References

External links

Stephen A Resnick's website with Richard D. Wolff

''Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture and Society''

Re-centering Class in Critical Theory: A Tribute to Stephen A. Resnick (1938-2013)

Obituary article
on Umass.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Resnick, Stephen 1938 births 2013 deaths American economists Marxist theorists Marxian economists University of Pennsylvania alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Yale University faculty City University of New York faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty

Biography

Bibliography

Videos

See also

References

External links