Sam Aaronovitch
Encyclopedia
Sam Aaronovitch was a British economist, academic, working class intellectual and senior member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
.
He was born in the East End of London
to Jewish immigrants and his early years were devoted to activity as a Communist Party militant and then a party full timer. In 1945 he was the election agent for one of only two Communist canadidates ever elected to London County Council
.
Near the age of 50 he entered academia as an economist after studying at Balliol College, Oxford from 1967 to 1971. He once explained his difficulties in filling in applications for university posts. "Education: St George's-in-the-East Secondary, Stepney 1930-34; Balliol College, Oxford 1967-71."
He became head of the economics department at South Bank Polytechnic and published a stream of books and articles on topics such as industrial pricing, insurance, monopoly, the impact of the City on the London economy, macroeconomic policy.
Though he remained a Communist Party member and a devoted Marxist he was a critic of party orthodoxy.
Working with a team of militant trade union officials and young intellectuals, Aaronovitch helped develop the Alternative Economic Strategy for the labour movement only to see it derailed by the 1979 election
victory of Margaret Thatcher
.
He published a series of books on British political economy
helping popularize the subject and as a speaker was able to combine and integrate industrial and academic viewpoints.
Aaronovitch aligned himself with the modernizing Eurocommunist
movement in the 1980s and was a frequent contributor to Marxism Today
. In 1981 he published The Road from Thatcherism in an attempt to articulate the need for a broad alliance against Thatcherism
.
In 1982 he established and ran the Local Economic Policy Unit and published the journal Local Economy.
Falling ill, he retired from South Bank University in 1997.
He was married three times - to Bertha, Kirsten and Lavender. He was survived by five children among them the science fiction scriptwriter Ben Aaronovitch
, journalist David Aaronovitch
and actor Owen Aaronovitch
.
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
.
He was born in the East End of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Jewish immigrants and his early years were devoted to activity as a Communist Party militant and then a party full timer. In 1945 he was the election agent for one of only two Communist canadidates ever elected to London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
.
Near the age of 50 he entered academia as an economist after studying at Balliol College, Oxford from 1967 to 1971. He once explained his difficulties in filling in applications for university posts. "Education: St George's-in-the-East Secondary, Stepney 1930-34; Balliol College, Oxford 1967-71."
He became head of the economics department at South Bank Polytechnic and published a stream of books and articles on topics such as industrial pricing, insurance, monopoly, the impact of the City on the London economy, macroeconomic policy.
Though he remained a Communist Party member and a devoted Marxist he was a critic of party orthodoxy.
Working with a team of militant trade union officials and young intellectuals, Aaronovitch helped develop the Alternative Economic Strategy for the labour movement only to see it derailed by the 1979 election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
victory of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
.
He published a series of books on British political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
helping popularize the subject and as a speaker was able to combine and integrate industrial and academic viewpoints.
Aaronovitch aligned himself with the modernizing Eurocommunist
Eurocommunism
Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...
movement in the 1980s and was a frequent contributor to Marxism Today
Marxism Today
Marxism Today was the theoretical journal of the Communist Party of Great Britain and was disestablished in 1991. It was particularly important during the 1980s under the editorship of Martin Jacques...
. In 1981 he published The Road from Thatcherism in an attempt to articulate the need for a broad alliance against Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
.
In 1982 he established and ran the Local Economic Policy Unit and published the journal Local Economy.
Falling ill, he retired from South Bank University in 1997.
He was married three times - to Bertha, Kirsten and Lavender. He was survived by five children among them the science fiction scriptwriter Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Denis Aaronovitch is a London-born British writer who has worked on television series including Doctor Who, Casualty, Jupiter Moon and Dark Knight...
, journalist David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch is a British author, broadcaster, and journalist. He is a regular columnist for The Times, and author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country and Voodoo Histories: the role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History...
and actor Owen Aaronovitch
Owen Aaronovitch
Owen Aaronovitch is an English actor, known for portraying Jon Lindsay in Coronation Street.-Background:Aaronovitch was born in Parliament Hill Fields, London. He is the son of the late economist and Communist Sam Aaronovitch, brother of the journalist David Aaronovitch and writer Ben Aaronovitch...
.