Eric Chester
Encyclopedia
Eric Thomas Chester is an American
author, socialist
political activist, and former economics
professor.
Born in New York City
, he is the son of Harry (a UAW
economist) and Alice (a psychiatrist née Fried) Chester. Both parents were active socialists from Vienna
, opposing the rise of fascism
and nazism
.
Chester was a member of Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS) while at the University of Michigan
in the 1960s, when he opposed the war in Vietnam
. He was a member of New American Movement
in the 1970s, and has been a member of the Socialist Party USA since 1980. He helped organize the faculty union while teaching at the University of Massachusetts Boston
. He is currently a member of the National Writers Union
(UAW), an active member in the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW), the Socialist Party of Massachusetts
, and the Socialist Party USA, and was the Socialist Party USA’s candidate for Vice President
in 1996. The 1996 Socialist Party USA presidential ticket of Mary Cal Hollis
and Chester received 4,765 votes. He campaigned for the SP's Presidential nomination for the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections, but lost to David McReynolds
, Walt Brown
and Brian Moore
, respectively. He twice ran for Congress from Massachusetts's First Congressional District, in 2002 and 2006.
Chester taught economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston (1973–1978; 1986) and San Francisco State University
(1981). He has published four books, focusing especially on "the hidden secrets of U.S. foreign policy" and "the connections between U.S. foreign policy and social democrats
, in this country and abroad". In an interview with Contemporary Authors, he described the resulting difficulties in archival research, "the search for previously undiscovered primary source documents", and often a declassification process that "usually entails extended appeals as provided for under the Freedom of Information Act." Chester is unwilling to rely on the public record, and urges researchers "to probe beneath the surface" and keep in mind that "the goals and actions of decision makers, as well as their envoys, are frequently in marked contrast to their public statements."
Up until October 2007, Chester was Convener of the International Commission of the Socialist Party USA. In 2006-2007 he also served as a member of the International Solidarity Committee of the IWW. He advocates supporting and uniting the new radical and revolutionary anti-capitalist movements that are being generated by the conditions of worldwide economic globalization of capitalism, into a mass revolutionary socialist party that is independent of the two capitalist parties, the Democratic
and Republican
Parties. Following the principles and ideas of Eugene V. Debs
and Rosa Luxemburg
, he describes himself as a revolutionary democratic socialist
.
He currently lives in Port Angeles
, Washington.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
political activist, and former economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
professor.
Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he is the son of Harry (a UAW
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
economist) and Alice (a psychiatrist née Fried) Chester. Both parents were active socialists from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, opposing the rise of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
Chester was a member of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
(SDS) while at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in the 1960s, when he opposed the war in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. He was a member of New American Movement
New American Movement
The New American Movement was founded in 1971 by a group of leaders of opposition to the Vietnam War to serve as a forum for discussing where and how to redirect their activities. The call to convene was issued by Michael Lerner...
in the 1970s, and has been a member of the Socialist Party USA since 1980. He helped organize the faculty union while teaching at the University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
. He is currently a member of the National Writers Union
National Writers Union
National Writers Union , founded on November 19, 1981, is the trade union in the United States for freelance and contract writers: journalists, book and short fiction authors, business and technical writers, web content providers, and poets...
(UAW), an active member in the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(IWW), the Socialist Party of Massachusetts
Socialist Party of Massachusetts
The Socialist Party of Massachusetts is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.It was reorganized in the 1970s after the formation of the SPUSA by activists who had been members of the Socialist Party of America...
, and the Socialist Party USA, and was the Socialist Party USA’s candidate for Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
in 1996. The 1996 Socialist Party USA presidential ticket of Mary Cal Hollis
Mary Cal Hollis
Mary Cal Hollis is an American politician. She was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1996 U.S. presidential election, representing the Socialist Party USA with running mate Eric Chester Hollis and Chester also received the endorsement and ballot line of Vermont's...
and Chester received 4,765 votes. He campaigned for the SP's Presidential nomination for the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections, but lost to David McReynolds
David McReynolds
David McReynolds is an American democratic socialist and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League...
, Walt Brown
Walt Brown
Walter Frederick Brown is an American politician and was the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party USA in the 2004 elections. Brown became a socialist in 1948. He served as Democratic member of the Oregon State Senate from 1975 to 1987. Brown also served as a Socialist Party of Oregon...
and Brian Moore
Brian Moore (politician)
Brian Patrick Moore is an United States politician and founder of antiwar organization Nature Coast Coalition for Peace & Justice. He was the presidential nominee of the Socialist Party USA for the 2008 United States presidential election. He waged several campaigns for mayor and city council in...
, respectively. He twice ran for Congress from Massachusetts's First Congressional District, in 2002 and 2006.
Chester taught economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston (1973–1978; 1986) and San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
(1981). He has published four books, focusing especially on "the hidden secrets of U.S. foreign policy" and "the connections between U.S. foreign policy and social democrats
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, in this country and abroad". In an interview with Contemporary Authors, he described the resulting difficulties in archival research, "the search for previously undiscovered primary source documents", and often a declassification process that "usually entails extended appeals as provided for under the Freedom of Information Act." Chester is unwilling to rely on the public record, and urges researchers "to probe beneath the surface" and keep in mind that "the goals and actions of decision makers, as well as their envoys, are frequently in marked contrast to their public statements."
Up until October 2007, Chester was Convener of the International Commission of the Socialist Party USA. In 2006-2007 he also served as a member of the International Solidarity Committee of the IWW. He advocates supporting and uniting the new radical and revolutionary anti-capitalist movements that are being generated by the conditions of worldwide economic globalization of capitalism, into a mass revolutionary socialist party that is independent of the two capitalist parties, the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Parties. Following the principles and ideas of Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
and Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
, he describes himself as a revolutionary democratic socialist
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
.
He currently lives in Port Angeles
Port Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles is a city in and the county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had...
, Washington.
Selected bibliography
- True Mission: Socialists and the Labor PartyAmerican Labor PartyThe American Labor Party was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party who had established themselves as the Social Democratic...
Question in the U.S., ISBN 0-7453-2215-8, Pluto Press, 2004. - Rag-Tags, Scum, Riff-Raff and Commies: The U.S. Intervention in the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, 1965-1966, ISBN 1-58367-032-7, New York University Press, 2001. - Covert Network: Progressives, the International Rescue CommitteeInternational Rescue CommitteeThe International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
, and the CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, ISBN 1-56324-551-5, M. E. Sharpe, 1995. - Socialists and the Ballot Box, ISBN 0-03-004142-2, Praeger Publishers, 1985.
- Article contributions to Public FinancePublic financePublic finance is the revenue and expenditure of public authoritiesThe purview of public finance is considered to be threefold: governmental effects on efficient allocation of resources, distribution of income, and macroeconomic stabilization.-Overview:The proper role of government provides a...
, Cambridge Journal of EconomicsCambridge Journal of EconomicsThe Cambridge Journal of Economics is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics....
, Insurgent Sociologist, New PoliticsNew Politics (magazine)New Politics is an independent socialist journal founded in 1961 and still published in the United States today. While it is inclusive of articles from a variety of left-of-center positions, the publication leans strongly toward a Third camp, democratic Marxist perspective, placing it typically to...
, Against the CurrentAgainst the CurrentAgainst the Current could refer to:* Against the Current, the journal of the socialist group Solidarity * Against the Current, a 2009 film starring Joseph Fiennes, Elizabeth Reaser, and Justin Kirk...
, and The Socialist.
See also
- Massachusetts general election, 2006Massachusetts general election, 2006A Massachusetts general election was held on November 7, 2006 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.The election included:* statewide elections for U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer, and Auditor;* district elections for U.S...
- Massachusetts congressional elections, 2006Massachusetts congressional elections, 2006The Massachusetts Congressional elections of 2006 were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. The terms of all ten Representatives to the United States House of Representatives were to expire on January 3, 2007, and therefore all were put up for contest...
- United States presidential election, 1996United States presidential election, 1996The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...