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Remembering Andre Gunder Frank

Three essays written at the time of Andre Gunder Frank’s death look at his impact on friends and colleagues, as well as his influence in the fields of economics and history. Gregory Shank recalls Gunder’s close ties to Social Justice and his brief time living in San Francisco’s Mission District. Jeff Sommers’s piece intermingles Gunder’s personal biography with his intellectual history in an attempt to capture the contrarian nature of the man who mentored and befriended him. Gunder could be ornery and sweet, fatalistic yet hopeful that sensible arguments might eventually make a difference, penetratingly visionary and riveted to the mundane intricacies of international law, admired and despised. Rod Bush’s essay explores Gunder’s influence on key thinkers in the Black Liberation and Pan Africanist movements. In 1960, Gunder visited Ghana and Guinea in Africa. Rod recalls Gunder’s humility, attentiveness as a listener, and unromantic pessimism regarding the near-term prospects of social movements seeking to change current global economic and political arrangements.

Andre Gunder Frank

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 32, No. 2 (2005): 4-15.