Synopses & Reviews
One of the most original and prolific economists of the twentieth century, Joan Robinson (1903andndash;83) is widely regarded as the most important woman in the history of economic thought. Robinson studied economics at Cambridge University, where she made a career that lasted some fifty years. She was an unlikely candidate for success at Cambridge. A young woman in 1930 in a university dominated by men, she succeeded despite not having a remarkable academic record, a college fellowship, significant publications, or a powerful patron. In
The Provocative Joan Robinson, Nahid Aslanbeigui and Guy Oakes trace the strategies and tactics Robinson used to create her professional identity as a Cambridge economist in the 1930s, examining how she recruited mentors and advocates, carefully defined her objectives, and deftly pursued and exploited opportunities.
Aslanbeigui and Oakes demonstrate that Robinsonandrsquo;s professional identity was thoroughly embedded in a local scientific culture in which the Cambridge economists A. C. Pigou, John Maynard Keynes, Dennis Robertson, Piero Sraffa, Richard Kahn (Robinsonandrsquo;s closest friend on the Cambridge faculty), and her husband Austin Robinson were important figures. Although the economists Joan Robinson most admiredandmdash;Pigou, Keynes, and their mentor Alfred Marshallandmdash;had discovered ideas of singular greatness, she was convinced that each had failed to grasp the essential theoretical significance of his own work. She made it her mission to recast their work both to illuminate their major contributions and to redefine a Cambridge tradition of economic thought. Based on the extensive correspondence of Robinson and her colleagues, The Provocative Joan Robinson is the story of a remarkable woman, the intellectual and social world of a legendary group of economists, and the interplay between ideas, ambitions, and disciplinary communities.
Review
andldquo;This is a remarkable book. It is the first attempt of which I am aware to deal with the complexity of Joan Robinsonandrsquo;s contributions to Cambridge economics in the 1930s. Robinson is an iconic figure, and a series of legendsandmdash;mostly created by Robinson herself in a complex process of personality and career formationandmdash;makes such a historical reconstruction necessary. andlsquo;Necessaryandrsquo; is the right word, since the entire history of what is now called macroeconomics, and a number of elements of the history of neoclassical economics in the preandndash;Second World War period, have been told from the perspective of Cambridge, England, by individuals engaged in defending the Cambridge tradition.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The Provocative Joan Robinson is an engaging, insightful, and highly original treatment of a significant figure and community in the history of economics.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Through a biography of the most important woman in the history of economic thought, the work offers new insights into the creation of macroeconomic theory at a crucial period in its development.
About the Author
“The Provocative Joan Robinson is an engaging, insightful, and highly original treatment of a significant figure and community in the history of economics.”—Steven Medema, author of The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-Interest in the History of Economic Ideas“This is a remarkable book. It is the first attempt of which I am aware to deal with the complexity of Joan Robinson’s contributions to Cambridge economics in the 1930s. Robinson is an iconic figure, and a series of legends—mostly created by Robinson herself in a complex process of personality and career formation—makes such an historical reconstruction necessary. ‘Necessary’ is the right word, since the entire history of what is now called macroeconomics, and a number of elements of the history of neoclassical economics in the pre-World War II period, have been told from the perspective of Cambridge, England, by individuals engaged in defending the Cambridge tradition.”—E. Roy Weintraub, author of How Economics Became a Mathematical Science
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Collage with Woman in Foreground 1
1. The Improbable Theoretician 17
Excursus: Robinson and Kahn 51
2. The Making of The Economics of Imperfect Competition 89
3. Becoming a Keynesian 161
andquot;Who Is Joan Robinson?andquot; 235
Notes 247
Bibliography 279
Index 295