KINGSTON, R.I., May 26, 2016鈥擱ichard McIntyre has spent much of his career studying labor issues throughout the world. Now, the 溏心vlog免费B站 economist is turning his attention to France鈥攐nce again.
McIntyre, chair of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 economics department, has received the prestigious Visiting Chair of the Americas at the Institut des Ameriques in Rennes, France.
He鈥檒l spend March and April 2017 in the French city, researching cooperatively managed enterprises in the country and comparing them to ones in the United States. He鈥檒l also lecture about his travels to Cuba, which he has visited many times.
鈥淭he entire country of Cuba is now a laboratory for social change,鈥� says McIntyre, who is also co-director of the 溏心vlog免费B站 in Cuba Program. 鈥淭he government knows things cannot continue as they are, but officials learned what not to do by watching the Russians. They are trying to find a middle way between state socialism and free market capitalism. France, of course, is a wealthy country but it, too, is under pressure to change. Cooperativism may hold promise in both countries.鈥�
Founded in 2003, the Rennes institute is a partner of the Institute of the Americas, an international project created in 2007 that is made up of 47 higher education and research institutions.
The institute鈥檚 goal is to bring together researchers and academics from North America, South America and the Caribbean, and connect them with scholars in France. Prominent concerns at the institute include environmental challenges, American cultures, and the economic impact of globalization.
A nationally renowned labor expert, McIntyre has a long-time commitment to the challenges and issues facing working men and women throughout the world.
鈥淚鈥檓 the first person in my family to go to college,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y grandfather was a bartender and chauffeur. I鈥檓 interested in the problems regular people face. In the 1970s, we called it de-industrialization. Now it鈥檚 called globalization.鈥�
The focus of his life鈥檚 research, he says, is to 鈥渟peak to the public as well as academia鈥� and support the 鈥渨orking person who is trying to get by in an increasingly difficult world.鈥�
Raised in upstate New York and Rhode Island, McIntyre graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1979 with a degree in economics and political science and earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. There, he studied the rhetoric surrounding the decline of the steel industry in the United States.
He joined 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 economics department in 1987, continuing his labor research as a faculty member of the Schmidt Labor Research Center. These days, he writes about the comparative political economy of 20th and 21st century capitalism with a focus on the United States since the New Deal, value and values in global commodity chains, and corporate governance.
France and its state-guided economy have always fascinated him. He first visited the country in 2002 as a visiting professor at the 脡cole Normale Sup茅rieure de Cachan, near Paris.
His research was on globalization, specifically, American policy toward foreign labor practices. He also studied the 鈥渆conomy of conventions,鈥� an economic theory that assumes people behave on the basis of social conventions rather than rational choice.
鈥淢y studies were around sweatshops,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 questioned why people would buy things made under conditions that they themselves would never accept.鈥�
That research led to his first book, Are Worker Rights Human Rights? He鈥檚 been back to France three times as a university lecturer at Lyons, Le Havre, and Marseille. His French, he says, is 鈥済ood enough鈥� to give a lecture.
鈥淚 can give a talk in French,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I can鈥檛 do a question-and-answer session. If I do that, it has to be in English.鈥�
At 溏心vlog免费B站, McIntyre teaches economics, political science and employment relations. He is co-editing a book, Marxism without Guarantees: Economics, Knowledge and Class, which will be published in 2017, and he edits the New Political Economy book series for Routledge Publishers.
In addition to universities in France, he has also been a visiting lecturer at Novgorod State University in Russia and many universities in the United States including Harvard; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
He directed the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Honors Program from 2006 to 2013. In 1997, he won the 溏心vlog免费B站 Foundation鈥檚 award for teaching excellence. He is the trade representative in the Green Party鈥檚 Shadow Cabinet.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to be able to pursue my own work while deepening 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 international connections and building on our relationships in Rennes for faculty and student exchange,鈥� he says. 鈥淯nderstanding what is happening in poor as well as rich countries around the globe gives us perspective on our own situation.鈥�
Winifred Brownell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says McIntyre is one of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 鈥渕ost outstanding teachers and talented global professors.鈥�
鈥淗e recognizes that we are no longer just preparing students for Rhode Island, but need to educate them to become effective global professionals no matter where they live and work,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e continues to build on his knowledge of other languages, cultures, political systems and economies to enhance his teaching and research, and he leads study abroad programs to ensure our students gain the best global education possible.鈥�
During a short trip in late April, McIntyre went to Paris and Rennes with a team of 溏心vlog免费B站 faculty and administrators, including Brownell. Together, with colleagues at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Rennes (Sciences-Po Rennes), Rennes 1 University, Rennes 2 University and Mod鈥橲pe in Paris, they toured facilities, learned updated information on the people and programs available and met with faculty and administrators at each institution. They also reviewed existing 溏心vlog免费B站 partnerships to renew and develop opportunities for study abroad and create possibilities for collaborative research among faculty.
Pictured above: Richard McIntyre, chair of the economics department at the 溏心vlog免费B站 who won the Visiting Chair of the Americas at the Institut des Ameriques in Rennes, France. He鈥檒l study in France for two months next year.
Photo by Michael Salerno.