Gavin Wright

Economic history is now practiced primarily within economics departments, often serving as an institutionalized form of internal subversion. Continuing a strong Stanford economic history tradition, that is the way I see my own research: Not to reject or overthrow the discipline of economics, but to demonstrate the importance of historical processes and historical context in economic life. Believing that the best approach to this agenda is to develop compelling historical explanations for important economic phenomena, much of my work has been devoted to identifying the institutional and cultural foundations for the American rise to world economic pre-eminence.Another case in point is the Civil Rights Revolution of the 1960s, the research topic for my year at the Center. My interest in the American South dates back to the summer of 1963, which I spent on a voter registration project in rural North Carolina. It became clear to me at that time that although political rights for African Americans were essential, the deeper roots of the race issue were economic. But I knew that I did not have the expertise to understand this relationship fully, which is why I set out to gain advanced training in economics. Alas, economics did not offer the deep understanding I was looking for. But economic history has provided a vehicle that has allowed me to struggle with these issues over the years, and I am grateful to be able to return now to the challenge that prompted my entry into academic life: understanding the relationship between the race issue and economics.

 

Education

B.A. (1965) Swarthmore College; Ph.D. (1969) Yale University

 

Experience

• Professor of Economics, Stanford University, 1982-present
• Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions, University of Cambridge, 1994-95
• Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor of Economics, University of Michigan, 1972-82

Expertise

American economic history; economic history of the American South