Michael Harrington

Michael Harrington
Bernard Gotfryd · Public domain · source
Name	Michael Harrington
Birth date	February 24, 1928
Birth place	St. Louis, Missouri
Death date	July 31, 1989
Death place	Larchmont, New York
Occupation	Author, Socialist Party USA leader, Democratic Socialists of America founder

Michael Harrington was a prominent American author, social democrat, and leader of the Socialist Party USA. He is best known for his book The Other America, which exposed the widespread poverty in the United States and influenced President John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. Harrington's work was also closely associated with the Catholic Worker Movement and its founder, Dorothy Day. He was a key figure in the development of the New Left and a strong critic of capitalism and imperialism, often drawing parallels with the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

● Early Life and Education

Michael Harrington was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a family of Irish-American descent. He attended St. Louis University High School and later enrolled in College of the Holy Cross, where he developed an interest in Catholicism and social justice. Harrington's early influences included Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo XIII, and the Catholic Worker Movement, which was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. He also drew inspiration from the works of Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and Martin Buber. After graduating from College of the Holy Cross, Harrington went on to study at the University of Chicago, where he earned a master's degree in English literature and was influenced by the works of Thorstein Veblen and C. Wright Mills.

● Career

Harrington's career as a writer and activist began in the 1950s, when he became involved with the Catholic Worker Movement and started writing for its newspaper, The Catholic Worker. He also worked as a editor for the New York Herald Tribune and wrote for various other publications, including The Nation, The New Yorker, and Commentary. Harrington's writing often focused on issues of poverty, inequality, and social justice, and he was a strong critic of capitalism and imperialism. He was also a vocal supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and worked closely with leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin. Harrington's work was influenced by a range of thinkers, including Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Ernst Bloch.

● Major Works

Harrington's most famous book, The Other America, was published in 1962 and exposed the widespread poverty in the United States. The book was a major influence on President John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty and helped to shape the Great Society programs. Harrington also wrote several other books, including The Accidental Century and Socialism, which explored the possibilities of a socialist alternative to capitalism. His work was widely reviewed and debated in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The London Review of Books. Harrington's writing was also influenced by the works of Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, and Max Horkheimer.

● Political Activism

Harrington was a key figure in the development of the New Left and a strong critic of capitalism and imperialism. He was a vocal supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and worked closely with leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin. Harrington was also a strong opponent of the Vietnam War and was a founding member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He worked closely with other socialist leaders, including Norman Thomas and Bayard Rustin, and was a strong supporter of the Labor Movement and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Harrington's activism was influenced by the works of Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci, and Leon Trotsky.

● Legacy

Michael Harrington's legacy is complex and multifaceted. He is remembered as a key figure in the development of the New Left and a strong critic of capitalism and imperialism. His book The Other America is widely regarded as a classic of American literature and continues to influence social policy and poverty research to this day. Harrington's work has also been widely debated and criticized, with some arguing that his socialism was too moderate and others arguing that it was too radical. Despite these criticisms, Harrington remains an important figure in American intellectual history and his work continues to be widely read and studied by scholars and activists around the world, including those associated with the Institute for Policy Studies and the New America Foundation. Category:American socialists