Richard D.

Wolff
Richard David Wolff (born April 1, 1942) is an American Marxian economist, well
Richard D. W olff
known for his work on Marxian economics, economic methodology, and class
analysis. He is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, and currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International
Affairs of the New School Universityin New York. 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 Y
ork City.

In 1988 he co-founded the journal Rethinking Marxism. In 2010, Wolff published

Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It,
also released as a DVD. He released three new books in 2012: Occupy the Economy: Wolff on The Laura Flanders Show,
Challenging Capitalism, with David Barsamian (San Francisco: City Lights Books), July 2015
Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian, with
Born April 1, 1942[1]
Stephen Resnick (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London: MIT University Press),
Youngstown, Ohio,
and Democracy at Work (Chicago: Haymarket Books).
U.S.[1]
Wolff hosts the weekly hour-long radio program Economic Update on WBAI, 99.5 Nationality United States
FM, New York City (Pacifica Radio) and is featured regularly in television, print,
Spouse(s) Harriet Fraad[2]
and internet media. The New York Times Magazine has named him "America's most
prominent Marxist economist".[8] Wolff lives in Manhattan with his wife and Institution Yale University
frequent collaborator, Dr. Harriet Fraad, a practicing psychotherapist. (1967–69)

City College of New

York (1969–73)
Contents University of
Massachusetts
Early and personal life
Amherst (1973–
Professional life
present)
Projects
The New School
Politics
(2008–present)[1]
Bibliography
Films Field Marxian economics
See also · Political economy ·
References
International affairs

External links School or Marxian economics

Interviews tradition
Alma mater Harvard College
(BA, 1963)
Early and personal life Stanford University
Richard Wolff's parents immigrated from Europe to the United States during WW II. (MA, 1964)
His father, a French lawyer working until that point in Cologne, got work in Yale University (MA,
Youngstown, Ohio as a steel worker (in part because his European certification was 1966; MA, 1967)
not recognized in the United States), and the family eventually settled outside New
Yale University
York City. His mother was a German citizen.[9] Wolff states that his European
(PhD, 1969)[1]
background influenced his world view: "[E]verything you expect about how the
world works probably will be changed in your life, that unexpected things happen, Influences Marx · Engels ·
often tragic things happen, and being flexible, being aware of a whole range of Bernstein[3] ·
different things that happen in the world, is not just a good idea as a thinking person, Luxemburg[4][5] ·
but it’s crucial to your survival. So, for me, I grew up convinced that understanding Gramsci[6] ·
the political and economic environment I lived in was an ur
gent matter that had to be Lukács[6] ·
done, and made me a little different from many of my fellow kids in school who Sweezy[7] · Baran ·
didn’t have that sense of the urgency of understanding how the world worked to be Althusser · Balibar
able to navigate an unstable and often dangerous world. That was a very important Contributions Marxian economics
lesson for me."[9] Wolff's father was acquainted with Max Horkheimer. Wolff earned · Economic
a BA magna cum laude in history from Harvard in 1963 and moved on to Stanford methodology ·
—he attained an MA in economics in 1964—to study with Paul A. Baran. Baran Class analysis
died prematurely from a heart attack in 1964 and Wolff transferred to Yale
Website rdwolff.com
University, where he received an MA in economics in 1966, MA in history in 1967,
and a PhD in economics in 1969. As a graduate student at Yale, Wolff worked as an instructor.[1] His dissertation, "Economic Aspects
of British Colonialism in Kenya, 1895–1930",[10] was eventually published in book form in 1974.[11]

In addition to his native English, Wolff is fluent in French and German.[1] Professor Wolff lives in New York City with his wife, Dr.
[12]
Harriet Fraad, a psychotherapist. They have two adult children.

Professional life
Wolff taught at the City College of New York from 1969–1973. Here he started his lifelong collaboration with fellow economist
Stephen Resnick, who arrived in 1971 after being denied tenure at Yale for signing an anti-war petition[13] . Both would then be part,
along with Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Rick Edwards, of the "radical package" that was hired in 1973 by the Economics
Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Wolff has been full professor since 1981. Wolff retired in 2008 but
remains professor emeritus and that year joinedThe New School as a visiting professor.

The first co-authored academic publication by Wolff and Resnick was "The Theory of Transitional Conjunctures and the Transition
from Feudalism to Capitalism,"[14] which laid out the pillars of the framework that they have worked on ever since. They formulated
a non-determinist, class-analytical approach for understanding the debates regarding the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
Their topics have included Marxian theory and value analysis, overdetermination, radical economics, international trade, business
cycles, social formations, theSoviet Union, and comparing and contrasting Marxian and non-Marxian economic theories.

Wolff's work with Resnick took Louis Althusser and Étienne Balibar's Reading Capital as its point of departure and developed a
subtle reading of Karl Marx's Capital Volumes II and III in their influential Knowledge and Class. For the authors, Marxian class
analysis entails the detailed study of the conditions of existences of concrete forms of performance, appropriation, and distribution of
surplus labor. While there could be an infinite number of forms of surplus appropriation, the Marxist canon refers to ancient
(independent), slave, feudal, capitalist, and communist class processes.

In 1989, Wolff joined efforts with a group of colleagues, ex- and then current
Marx used the word
students to launch Rethinking Marxism, 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 continues to serve as a
“ "exploitation" to
focus analytical
attention on what
member of both the editorial and the advisory boards of the journal. capitalism shared
with feudalism and
Wolff was a visiting professor in spring 1994 at University of Paris 1 Pantheon- slavery, something
Sorbonne. Wolff continues to teach graduate seminars and undergraduate courses
that capitalist
revolutions against
and direct dissertation research in economics at the University of Massachusetts

”
slavery and
Amherst and, most recently, in the graduate program in international affairs (GPIA) feudalism never
at The New School. overcame.
— Richard D. Wolff[15]
A founding member of the Green Party of New Haven, Connecticut, Wolff was the
party's mayoral candidate in 1985.[16] In 2011, he called for the establishment of a broad-based left-wing mass party in the United
States.[17] Wolff, especially since 2008, gives many public lectures throughout the United States and other countries. He is regular
lecturer at the Brecht Forum. Wolff is often a guest on television and radio news programs, and, within the U.S., has appeared on a
variety of programs, as well as writing for a number of publications and websites.[12] Wolff hosts a weekly radio program on
economics and society, Economic Update, at WBAI in New York City.[18]

One of his students, George Papandreou, went on to become 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."[19] 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 imposed the most brutal austerity program the
country has ever seen."[20]

Projects
Prof. Richard Wolff is a co-founder of Democracy at Work, a non-profit media organization that advocates for democratic workplaces
as a key part of a transition from capitalism to a new and better economy.[21] The organization is based off his 2012 book,
Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism.

Politics
In July 2015, Wolff endorsed Massachusetts physician and Green Party candidate
Jill Stein for President.[22]

Bibliography
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: Play media
Essays for Harry Magdoff and Paul Sweezy. NY: Autonomedia. Richard Wolff on Bernie Sanders and
Wolff, Richard D.; Stephen A. Resnick (1987).Economics: Marxian Socialism
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 1-56656-784-X.
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.
Films
Richard Wolff (2009). Capitalism Hits the Fan(DVD). Media Education Foundation. ISBN 1-932869-30-1.

See also
Paul Hirst
Stephen A. Resnick
J. K. Gibson-Graham

References
1. Wolff, Richard D. "Wolff C.V." (http://www.umass.edu/resnick-wolff/Wolff_curriculum_vitae.pdf)(PDF). Retrieved
2011-10-05.
2. http://billmoyers.com/guest/richard-wolff/
3. Crisis and Openings: Introduction to Marxism (2012)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Whccunka4) on
YouTube
4. Extended interview with prof. Woff on how Marxism influences his work(http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/3/2
5/watch_extended_interview_with_economist_richard_wolf f_on_how_marxism_influences_his_work), Democracy
Now!, 25 March 2013
5. http://rdwolff.com/content/prof-wolff-rosa-luxemburg-conference-opening-night-082115
6. Wolff, Richard D. Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy(http://www.rdwolff.com/content/kno
wledge-and-class-marxian-critique-political-economy)
, University of Chicago Press, 15 July 1989, ISBN 978-
0226710235
7. "On Moyers & Company"(http://rdwolff.com/content/moyers-company) by Richard D. Wolff, 22 February 2013
8. Davidson, Adam (February 5, 2012)."It Is Safe to Resume Ignoring the Prophets of Doom ... Right?"(https://www.ny
times.com/2012/02/05/magazine/economic-doomsday-predictions.html) . The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved
August 3, 2013.
9. Goodman, Amy. "Democracy Now! March 25, 2013 Watch Extended Interview with Economist Richard Wolff on How
Marxism Influences His Work" (http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/3/25/watch_extended_interview_with_econ
omist_richard_wolff_on_how_marxism_influences_his_work). Pacifica Radio. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
10. OCLC 682061093 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/682061093)
11. Wolff, Richard D. (1974). Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya, 1870–1930
. Yale University Press.
ISBN 978-0-300-01639-0.
12. Wolff, Richard D. "About Professor Richard D. Wolff" (http://www.rdwolff.com/about). Retrieved 2017-08-04.
13. {Re-centering Class in Critical Theory: A T ribute to Stephen A. Resnick (1938-2013) |
https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/contentgroups/economics/Ian__Stephen_Resnick_T
ribute_revised_0.pdf}
14. Resnick, S. and Wolff, R. (1979). "The Theory of Transitional Conjunctures and the Transition from Feudalism to
Capitalism," Review of Radical Political Economics, 11:3, 3–22 and 32–36.
15. Richard D. Wolff (May 26, 2015). Critics of Capitalism Must Include Its Definition(http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/
30678-critics-of-capitalism-must-include-its-definition)
. Truthout. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
16. "Green Party of Connecticut: Election History"(http://ct.greens.org/electionhistory.shtml). Connecticut Green Party.
Retrieved 2011-10-05.
17. Wolff, Richard D. (March 13, 2011)."What's left of the American left?"(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/
cifamerica/2011/mar/13/us-politics-us-unions). The Guardian. London.
18. "Economic Update - Richard D. Wolff" (http://wbai.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11284&Itemid
=141). WBAI. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
19. Interview in "To Vima" Newspaper - Greek Publication(http://www.rdwolff.com/content/interview-vima-newspaper-gre
ek-publication) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20130315072700/http://rdwolf
f.com/content/interview-vima-ne
wspaper-greek-publication)March 15, 2013, at theWayback Machine., 24 January 2011, translated by and
uploaded on RDWolff.com
20. "Capitalism, Socialism, and Economic Democracy: Reflections on oday’s
T Crisis and Tomorrow’s Possibilities" (htt
p://postcapitalistproject.org/node/100), by Costas Panayotakis,Envisioning a Post-Capitalist Order, December 2010
21. "About – Democracy at Work" (http://www.democracyatwork.info/about). d@w. 2013. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
22. "Endorsing Jill Stein for President: Professor Richard D. W
olff Economist" (https://vimeo.com/131269448). Retrieved
13 July 2015.

External links
Richard D. Wolff's website
Richard D. Wolff's UMASS webpage (with Stephen A Resnick)
Wolff's faculty profile at The New School
Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture and Society
Democracy at Work A social movement "for greater economic democracy" co-founded by Dr
. Wolff
Richard D. Wolff on IMDb

Interviews
Richard D. Wolff on Charlie Rose
Capitalism in Crisis: Richard Wolff Urges End to Austerity, New Jobs Program, Democratizing Work. Democracy
Now! March 25, 2013.
Capitalism's Stunning Contradiction. (Interview with Richard Wolff on Reality Asserts Itself). The Real News,
November 11, 2014.
The Empire Files: Understanding Marxism and Socialism with Richard W olff. The Real News, March 21, 2016.
Poverty Has Always Accompanied Capitalism. Truthout. July 3, 2016.

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