The Essential Hirschman brings together some of the finest essays in the
social sciences, written by one of the twentieth century's most
influential and provocative thinkers. Albert O. Hirschman was a master
essayist, one who possessed the rare ability to blend the precision of
economics with the elegance of literary imagination. In an age in which
our academic disciplines require ever-greater specialization and
narrowness, it is rare to encounter an intellectual who can transform
how we think about inequality by writing about traffic, or who can slip
in a quote from Flaubert to reveal something surprising about taxes. The
essays gathered here span an astonishing range of topics and
perspectives, including industrialization in Latin America, imagining
reform as more than repair, the relationship between imagination and
leadership, routine thinking and the marketplace, and the ways our
arguments affect democratic life. Throughout, we find humor,
unforgettable metaphors, brilliant
analysis, and elegance of style that give Hirschman such a singular
voice.Featuring an introduction by Jeremy Adelman that places each of
these essays in context as well as an insightful afterword by Emma
Rothschild and Amartya Sen, The Essential Hirschman is the ideal
introduction to Hirschman for a new generation of readers and a
must-have collection for anyone seeking his most important writings in
one book.
