This book contains a selection of chapters coming from For a Better World (First Conference on Hirschman Legacy - Boston 2017), A Bias for Hope (Second Conference on Hirschman Legacy- Washington-WB 2018), and A Passion for the Possible (Third Conference on Hirschman Legacy - Berlin 2019). The three Conferences have been organized by A Colorni-Hirschman International Institute, Rome, Italy.
Animated by a large group of well-known scholars and operatives coming from United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East, these Conferences provided a large spectrum of contributions on Albert Hirschman life and work, and on the wide range influence that this protagonist of the cultural scene of our time has had on managers and entrepreneurs and on public and private development around the world from the local level, up to the UN-WB one.
Sifting through the material of these Conferences, and repositioning the chosen contributions according to a general line of reasoning, however tenuous, the present collection shows the flexibility and applicability of Hirschmans methods, concepts and proposals to the most diverse situations; and vice versa that is it shows how those variegated realities often lend themselves to be interpreted ą la Hirschman.
A note - Three points on possibilism: Luca Meldolesi - My interview with
Albert Hirschman: Marta Petrusewicz - Unexpected linkages and social energy
in collective action: Elizabeth Jelin - On teaching Hirschman: Philipp
Lepenies - Uncertainty as an opportunity: Osvaldo Néstor Feinstein - Exit,
Voice, and Loyalty in the history of economics: Richard Adelstein -
Hirschmans critique of the economics profession: Ilene Grabel - On the
applicability of Albert Hirschmans Shifting Involvements for the historian:
Charles S. Maier - Marxism, imperialism, and the future of undeveloped
societies: From expected to unintended consequences: Baruch Knei-Paz - The
context of Otto Alberts politicization: Christian Fleck - Hirschman, Geertz,
and my experience: Robert Darnton - Hirschmans legacy in dealing with the
private sector: Vincenzo Marino - Possibilism as a cornerstone of
consultancy: Francesco Messina - Providing innovation to the South: Francesco
Cicione and Gennaro di Cello - Hirschmans theory in business management
practice: Renato Bruno - Regional Entrepreneurial Transformation Process
in Lusatiaa Hirschmanian approach to socio-economic transformations?: Hans
Rüdiger Lange - The Abraham Path: Economic development across fragile
communities in the West Bank: Marinella Ariano - Reflections of a sanitarian:
Laura Orlando - Sustaining success? Voice and accountable discretion in
Bangalores Water for the Poor Program, 10 years later: Meenu Tewari -
Capacity-building for development projects: Efficiency plus generosity: Paolo
Di Nola - Evaluation for local development: Laura Tagle - Social learning and
the World Bank: Tom Kenyon and Alberto Criscuolo - Implementation (and
reform) really is a long voyage of discovery: Michael Woolcock -
Intersecting exit, voice, and loyalty: Feedback from Nigeria: Lesley Amede
Obiora - Inequality and the inventiveness of history: Albert Hirschmans
tunnel effect in South Africa: Brian Levy - How the rhetoric of reaction
justifies the legalized exploitation of migrant care labor: Marianne Egger De
Campo - Reactionary and progressive rhetoric in post-communist
transformation: A note on translating Hirschmans ideas into a different
context: Marek Skovajsa - Index of Names
Luca Meldolesi, full professor of economic policy, University of Naples Italy (emeritus). Advisor: the Minister of Defense (1992-93); the Ministry of Finance (1995-8). President, Comitato emersione: Prime Ministers Office (1999-2004) and Ministry of Labour (2004-2008). President, A Colorni-Hirschman International Institute (2016 to the present). Author: Discovering the Possible. The Surprising World of Albert O. Hirschman, Notre Dame Univ. Press, 1995). Series Editor: "Albert Hirschmans Legacy: Works and Discussions": Peter Lang Publisher, since 2019.
Nicoletta Stame, Sociologist, PhD (State University of New York and Catania University), emerita professor Sapienza University of Roma, past President European Evaluation Society and Associazione Italiana di Valutazione, member of the editorial board of Evaluation, vice-president of A Colorni-Hirschman International Institute.
