Between 1965 and 1981, the economics department at the University of Massachusetts was in a state of change, according to Donald Katzner,who was the chair from 1976 to 1981. The department, which had been primarily composed of non-radical neoclassical professors, was starting to introduce radical Marxian viewpoints, which, he said, caused tensions between professors.
In his UMass Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series talk last Wednesday – a lecture called “UMass Amherst’s Radical Revolution in Economics: 1965-1981” – Katzner discussed his new book, “At the Edge of Camelot: Debating Economics in Turbulent Time” where he described the events and challenges faced by the UMass economics department during a time when radical economic perspectives were repudiated.
In September 1971, Simon Rottenberg took over as head of the economics department and denied Samuel Bowles, one of the leading radical economists at the time, a visiting appointment in the department, Katzner noted. Bowles was forced instead to accept an appointment in the UMass Labor Center. Rottenberg believed Bowles’ teaching ideologies were more suitable for the labor department than for the economics department, according to Katzner
Katzner also pointed out that in 1973 Marxian analysis was considered subversive and dangerous. But Katzner said that there was a desire among students for more diverse subject matter on the left as well as support of radical Marxian economics.
He explained that graduate students did not like the subservient relationship they had with their faculty mentors. They rebelled against the academic hierarchy, explained Katzner. They wanted more options for academic recovery and for graduate students to be funded, he said. This caused the graduate students to create an organization called the Economics Graduate Student Organization, or EGSO.
“Their greatest success came,” said Katzner, “when they convinced the faculty to delegate them to subject faculty veto.”
This veto allowed graduate students to say if they did not want to work with a certain professor, and for professors to say if they did not want to work with a particular graduate student.
In 1972, a popular radical economics professor, Michael Best, was denied tenure by Rottenburg, which stirred up controversy within the department, Katzner said.
Rottenberg resigned in the spring when his refusal to reappoint Best was overridden by the administration, said Katzner. Best was given a three-year appointment and Dean Alfange was named head of the department. Alfange discussed hiring Bowles in an attempt to add a radical economist to a faculty made up entirely of neoclassical non-radicals, Katzner explained.
In spring 1973, Richard Edwards, Herbert Gintis, Stephen Resnick and Richard Wolff, who became known as the “radical package”, were hired. Bowles was also a part of this radical package. The inclusion of radicals to a faculty that consisted entirely of neoclassical non-radicals created a tumultuous environment that resulted in faculty departures and disagreements, according to Katzner.
He said that, in 1976, the Economics Chair Search Committee attempted to ease tensions between radicals and non-radicals. They developed a rule that at most 40 percent of the department faculty could be radical and recommended that Katzner should be appointed as chair. Katzner explained that, when he was the department chair, “battles” occurred between the radical graduate students and the faculty.
He explained that eventually all conflicts were resolved. With communism not seen as the threat it once was, colleges became more accepting of what were once radical economists. The economics department faculty no longer expressed a bitter hatred towards their different ideologies, said Katzner. By 1994, the 40 percent rule of the faculty was dissolved, he noted.
“It doesn’t have the same urgency and intensity of the early radical years,” said Katzner.
“Over the years it has matured to a conscience on the left,” he continued, “and is unlikely to give up that role any time soon.”
Katzner has a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is an expert on General Equilibrium Theory and is the author of over 10 books. The Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series is sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the Provost. Members of the lecture series are awarded the Chancellor’s Medal. At the end of the lecture, Katzner was presented with this medal.
Brianna Corcoran can be reached at [email protected].
