Neal Wood
Encyclopedia
A Marxist scholar of the history of political thought, Neal Wood (10 September 1922 – 17 September 2003) located political ideas within social relations, property forms, and popular struggles, writing on topics as variant as the British Communist Party, John Locke
, Aristotle
, Edmund Burke
, and St. Augustine
.
, Wood volunteered for the Royal Air Force
before the United States entered the Second World War. After four years in the R.A.F., he was drafted into the U.S. Air Force and served in Italy
. After the war, the G.I. Bill helped him to study at the University of California, Berkeley
, from which he graduated in 1951 with a degree in history
. From 1955 to 1957, he studied at Cambridge University for his Ph.D.
His doctoral thesis, Communism and British Intellectuals, was published in 1959.
Between 1958 and 1963, Wood taught at Columbia University
. He then accepted an appointment at the University of California, Los Angeles
before taking up, in 1966, a chair in political science at the newly established York University
in Toronto
, Canada
. He and his wife, Ellen Meiksins Wood
, with whom he co-authored several studies, became Canadian citizens. He retired from York in 1988, and settled in England
a decade later, where he died of cancer
in Devon
.
Neal had one son, Cody Markwell Wood, who died suddenly in 1984. Cody had one daughter, Chantal Ferris, born in 1975, and currently resides in Canada with her daughter Olivia.
His final book, a jeremiad
against the direction of his country of origin entitled Tyranny in America: Capitalism and National Decay, appeared posthumously in 2004.
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, and St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
.
Biography
Born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Wood volunteered for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
before the United States entered the Second World War. After four years in the R.A.F., he was drafted into the U.S. Air Force and served in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. After the war, the G.I. Bill helped him to study at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, from which he graduated in 1951 with a degree in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. From 1955 to 1957, he studied at Cambridge University for his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
His doctoral thesis, Communism and British Intellectuals, was published in 1959.
Between 1958 and 1963, Wood taught at 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...
. He then accepted an appointment at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
before taking up, in 1966, a chair in political science at the newly established York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He and his wife, Ellen Meiksins Wood
Ellen Meiksins Wood
-Biography:Wood was born Ellen Meiksins one year after her parents, Latvian Jews active in the Bund, arrived in New York from Europe as political refugees. She was raised in the United States and Europe.Wood received a B.A...
, with whom he co-authored several studies, became Canadian citizens. He retired from York in 1988, and settled in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
a decade later, where he died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
.
Neal had one son, Cody Markwell Wood, who died suddenly in 1984. Cody had one daughter, Chantal Ferris, born in 1975, and currently resides in Canada with her daughter Olivia.
His final book, a jeremiad
Jeremiad
A jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in poetry, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall....
against the direction of his country of origin entitled Tyranny in America: Capitalism and National Decay, appeared posthumously in 2004.
Writings
- Communism and British Intellectuals, Columbia University Press, 1959.
- Class Ideology and Ancient Political Theory: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in Social Context, with Ellen Meiksins Wood, Blackwell, 1978.
- The Politics of Locke's Philosophy : A Social Study of 'An Essay Concerning Human Understanding', University of California Press, 1983.
- John Locke and Agrarian Capitalism, University of California Press, 1984.
- Cicero's Social and Political Thought, University of California Press, 1988.
- Foundations of Political Economy : Some Early Tudor Views on State and Society, University of California Press, 1994.
- A Trumpet of Sedition: Political Theory and the Rise of Capitalism, with Ellen Meiksins Wood, New York University Press, 1997.
- Reflections on Political Theory : A Voice of Reason from the Past, Palgrave, 2002.
- Tyranny in America: Capitalism and National Decay, Verso, 2004.