A Propensity to Self-Subversion

In these 20 essays Albert O. Hirschman examines his own ideas, and economic development. They also bring perspectives on the material in his 12 previous books and essays. In the essays that open this collection, Hirschman reappraises points he made in such books as "Exit", "Voice and Loyalty", "The Strategy of Economic Development" and "The Rhetoric of Reaction". Subsequent essays re-explore the themes of Latin American development and market society that have occupied him throughout his career. Hirschman also forays into the likely impact, negative or otherwise, of the Eastern European revolutions of 1989 on the Third World, the on-and-off connections between political and economic progress, and the role of conflict in enhancing community spirit in a liberal democracy. Hirschman presents autobiographical fragments that reflect his deep involvement in some of the important events of this century. He recollects his flight from Hitler's Germany in 1933, his studies in Paris, his work with the antifascist underground in Italy in 1937-38, and his role in helping Varian Fry in Marseilles, in 1940, to rescue political and intellectual refugees from Vichy, France.