Myron Weiner
Encyclopedia
Myron Weiner was an American political scientist and renowned scholar on India, South Asia, internal and international migration, ethnic conflict, child labor, democratization, political demography, and the politics and policies of developing countries.http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/09/world/myron-weiner-68-expert-on-child-labor-in-developing-lands.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm
in 1931. He received a BSS degree from the City College of New York
in 1951 and MA and PhD degrees from Princeton University
in 1953 and 1955. He taught at Princeton and the University of Chicago
before coming to MIT as an associate professor in 1961, where he worked for 38 years before retiring in April 1999. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1965 and served as head of the Department of Political Science From 1974-77. He was named the Ford International Professor of Political Science at MIT in 1977. He was also director of MIT's Center for International Studies from 1987–92, and acting director in 1995-96.
"Myron Weiner was a brilliant scholar, and an inspiring teacher and colleague, who had a large impact on the world, in particular on the lives of children," said Professor Joshua Cohen
, then-head of the MIT Department of Political Science.http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/weiner-0609.html
Professor Weiner served as a consultant to the World Bank
, the Agency for International Development, the US State Department, and the US National Security Council
. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society
, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, Council on Foreign Relations
, and a past president of the New England Association of Asian Studies. He held visiting appointments at Oxford University's Balliol College, Harvard University
, Delhi University, Hebrew University and the University of Paris
. Dr. Weiner was chair of the External Research and Advisory Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
from 1996 until his death.
Dr. Weiner's 1991 book The Child and the State in India: Child Labor and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective (Princeton University Press, 4th ed., ISBN 978-0691078687) had a major impact in Indian debates on how to end child labor, and was perhaps his magnum opus
. "It was his crowning achievement. It made all of us think about the question of illiteracy," according to Jagdish Bhagwati
, a Columbia University
economist and colleague since the mid-1950s.http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/09/world/myron-weiner-68-expert-on-child-labor-in-developing-lands.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm Dr. Bhagwati said the book prompted economists to recommend more investments in education for the poor, and policies to help poor people recognize education as a valuable investment.
Prior to his book, the prevailing view of many was that countries like India were too poor to do much about child labor or access to education by the poor, because parents needed working-children to support the family and only when incomes rose would this change. Using impassive data and scholarly language, Weiner's work reversed the causal direction, showing that historically (e.g. in Scotland) and cross-nationally (e.g. in even-poorer Africa and China), the reforms which expanded education preceded higher incomes. The 1991 book showed how India had fared worse on illiteracy and education than China
. Joshua Cohen said the book had a profound impact in India: "Here was a work, written by a friend of India, which presented irrefutable facts. It presented comparative statistics, and while it raised moral issues, it was not written as a moral diatribe."http://idontlikechildlaborbecauseitisbad.blogspot.com/2009/01/myron-weiner-expert-on-child-labor.html
His contrarian views sometimes caused controversy, e.g., showing that democratization
can exacerbate ethnic conflict, or the perverse effects of well-intentioned affirmative-action or child labor
policies.http://web.mit.edu/cis/precis/2011spring/directors_inverview.html With Samuel P. Huntington
and Lucien Pye, he was a co-founder and co-director for many years of the Harvard-MIT Joint Seminar on Political Development (JOSPOD) research project. Critics associated him, fairly or not, with the Modernization
school of thought, and with certain US policies during the Vietnam War
.http://books.google.com/books?id=KQVxyfi6N3EC&q=Weiner#v=snippet&q=Weiner&f=falsehttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mandarins+of+the+Future%3A+Modernization+Theory+in+Cold+War+America.-a0126317166
His most recent books were The Global Migration Crisis: Challenge to States and to Human Rights (HarperCollins, 1995 ISBN 978-0065002324); Threatened Peoples, Threatened Borders: World Migration and US Policy (co-editor, W. Norton, 1995); The New Geopolitics of Central Asia and its Borderlands (co-editor, Indiana University Press, 1994); The State and Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan (co-editor, Syracuse University Press, 1994); and International Migration and Security (editor, Westview Press, 1993).
Other books include Sons of the Soil: Migration and Ethnic Conflict in India (Princeton Univ Pr 1978 ISBN 978-0691093796; reprinted 1988 by Oxford University Press
ISBN 978-0195622423).
Among his many former-students are Ashutosh Varshneyhttp://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=1231360402 and Steven Wilkinsonhttp://www.yale.edu/polisci/people/swilkinson.html.
and a daughter, Beth Weiner Datskovsky, of Bala Cynwyd, PA.
Education and Career
Weiner was born in New York CityNew 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...
in 1931. He received a BSS degree from the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in 1951 and MA and PhD degrees from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1953 and 1955. He taught at Princeton and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
before coming to MIT as an associate professor in 1961, where he worked for 38 years before retiring in April 1999. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1965 and served as head of the Department of Political Science From 1974-77. He was named the Ford International Professor of Political Science at MIT in 1977. He was also director of MIT's Center for International Studies from 1987–92, and acting director in 1995-96.
"Myron Weiner was a brilliant scholar, and an inspiring teacher and colleague, who had a large impact on the world, in particular on the lives of children," said Professor Joshua Cohen
Joshua Cohen
Joshua Cohen may refer to:*Joshua Lionel Cowen, born Cohen , American inventor*Yehoshua Cohen , Israeli assassin*Joshua Cohen , American philosopher*Joshua J. Cohen, mayor of Annapolis, Maryland...
, then-head of the MIT Department of Political Science.http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/weiner-0609.html
Professor Weiner served as a consultant to the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, the Agency for International Development, the US State Department, and the US National Security Council
National Security Council
A National Security Council is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security...
. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, and a past president of the New England Association of Asian Studies. He held visiting appointments at Oxford University's Balliol College, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Delhi University, Hebrew University and the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
. Dr. Weiner was chair of the External Research and Advisory Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
from 1996 until his death.
Research and Publications
He was the author or editor of 32 scholarly books and numerous peer-reviewed articles. His most recent research involved three projects: child labor and education policy in India and other developing countries; comparing immigration, refugees and citizenship policies in Japan, Germany, South Africa and the USA; and analyzing the causes and effects of migration and refugee flows.Dr. Weiner's 1991 book The Child and the State in India: Child Labor and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective (Princeton University Press, 4th ed., ISBN 978-0691078687) had a major impact in Indian debates on how to end child labor, and was perhaps his magnum opus
Magnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
. "It was his crowning achievement. It made all of us think about the question of illiteracy," according to Jagdish Bhagwati
Jagdish Bhagwati
Jagdish Natwarlal Bhagwati is an Indian-American economist and professor of economics and law at Columbia University. He is well known for his research in international trade and for his advocacy of free trade....
, a Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
economist and colleague since the mid-1950s.http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/09/world/myron-weiner-68-expert-on-child-labor-in-developing-lands.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm Dr. Bhagwati said the book prompted economists to recommend more investments in education for the poor, and policies to help poor people recognize education as a valuable investment.
Prior to his book, the prevailing view of many was that countries like India were too poor to do much about child labor or access to education by the poor, because parents needed working-children to support the family and only when incomes rose would this change. Using impassive data and scholarly language, Weiner's work reversed the causal direction, showing that historically (e.g. in Scotland) and cross-nationally (e.g. in even-poorer Africa and China), the reforms which expanded education preceded higher incomes. The 1991 book showed how India had fared worse on illiteracy and education than China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Joshua Cohen said the book had a profound impact in India: "Here was a work, written by a friend of India, which presented irrefutable facts. It presented comparative statistics, and while it raised moral issues, it was not written as a moral diatribe."http://idontlikechildlaborbecauseitisbad.blogspot.com/2009/01/myron-weiner-expert-on-child-labor.html
His contrarian views sometimes caused controversy, e.g., showing that democratization
Democratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
can exacerbate ethnic conflict, or the perverse effects of well-intentioned affirmative-action or child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
policies.http://web.mit.edu/cis/precis/2011spring/directors_inverview.html With Samuel P. Huntington
Samuel P. Huntington
Samuel Phillips Huntington was an influential American political scientist who wrote highly-regarded books in a half-dozen sub-fields of political science, starting in 1957...
and Lucien Pye, he was a co-founder and co-director for many years of the Harvard-MIT Joint Seminar on Political Development (JOSPOD) research project. Critics associated him, fairly or not, with the Modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
school of thought, and with certain US policies during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.http://books.google.com/books?id=KQVxyfi6N3EC&q=Weiner#v=snippet&q=Weiner&f=falsehttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mandarins+of+the+Future%3A+Modernization+Theory+in+Cold+War+America.-a0126317166
His most recent books were The Global Migration Crisis: Challenge to States and to Human Rights (HarperCollins, 1995 ISBN 978-0065002324); Threatened Peoples, Threatened Borders: World Migration and US Policy (co-editor, W. Norton, 1995); The New Geopolitics of Central Asia and its Borderlands (co-editor, Indiana University Press, 1994); The State and Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan (co-editor, Syracuse University Press, 1994); and International Migration and Security (editor, Westview Press, 1993).
Other books include Sons of the Soil: Migration and Ethnic Conflict in India (Princeton Univ Pr 1978 ISBN 978-0691093796; reprinted 1988 by Oxford University Press
ISBN 978-0195622423).
Among his many former-students are Ashutosh Varshneyhttp://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=1231360402 and Steven Wilkinsonhttp://www.yale.edu/polisci/people/swilkinson.html.
Personal life
Prof. Weiner died of brain cancer on June 3, 1999 at his home in Moretown, VT, at age 68. He was married to Sheila Leiman Weiner. They had two children, Saul Weiner of ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and a daughter, Beth Weiner Datskovsky, of Bala Cynwyd, PA.