Жорж Филип Равик: Құлдық тарихын зерттеуші және социалист тарихшы

American historian

George Philip Rawick (December 8, 1929 – June 27, 1990) was an American academic, historian, and socialist, best known for his editorship of a 41 volume set of oral histories of former slaves, titled The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography. Rawick revolutionized the study of slavery in the 1970s with his work, as he viewed the testimony of former slaves to be as serious as documentary left by slaveholders. He subsequently earned a Ph. D. in history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studied under Professor Merle Curti, who was one of the leading American historians of the era. Rawick completed his dissertation, The New Deal and Youth: The Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, and the American Youth Congress, in 1957: in that work, he contrasted the conservative, authoritarian, Army run Civilian Conservation Corps with the leftist, democratically run National Youth Administration, which allowed him to discuss the often contradictory impulses underlying the New Deal generally. Over his long career in academia, Rawick taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Wayne State University, State University of New York, the University of Chicago, and the University of Missouri St. Louis, among others. Rawick held brief postings at Harvard University and Cornell University. Rawick produced very little academic writing in these positions, as he faced criticism from anti radicals at the upper levels of academia because of his association with Marxist ideology. He participated in a number of left organizations including the Communist Party, Correspondence Publishing Committee, Independent Socialist League, and Facing Reality. He was associated with the ideas of C. L. R. James and was co author of a Facing Reality pamphlet, with C. L. R. James, Martin Glaberman, and William Gorman. He also wrote for the journal Radical America, which published his important essay, "Working Class Self Activity," in 1969.

Rawick became more politically active during his teen years. In either 1944 or 1945, he joined the American Youth for Democracy, which was directly associated with the Communist Party. His dive into Communist politics could be attributed to World War II, as his Jewish family stopped receiving letters from relatives in countries that were under Nazi control. This collection began publication in 1972. The interviews which this set contains were taken under the auspices of the Works Projects Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. Rawick's methodology of taking testimony from former slaves seriously and using it in his writing revolutionized the study of slavery in the 1970s. He thought that their testimony was as serious as documentary that was left by slaveholders, which was unheard of at the time. The work shows Rawick's major contributions to African American history and Marxist social theory. Rawick was able to tie the civil rights movement together with the tradition of class struggle. David Roediger analyzed primary sources from the George P. Rawick Papers found at the University of Missouri to craft his introduction. Roediger describes the development of Rawick's ideology in radical labor and the Black freedom movement in Detroit and London. Enoch H. Page uses his experience in studying and working with Rawick to contextualize Rawick's capabilities as an oral historian and dialectician. Rawick used his skills to be able to forge relationships with radical African American students and scholars in St. Louis. Ferruccio Gambino writes about Rawick's speaking tour in Italy in 1967. Rawick lectured at universities in front of crowds of radical students and workers. Rawick spoke to them about the civil rights campaign in the United States, and the struggles of workers in Detroit's automobile factories. George Lipsitz was a teaching assistant for Rawick during the 1970s. Lipsitz writes about Rawick's impact as a scholar and activist in the working class struggle, African American resistance, and stopping the spread of white supremacy. Listening to Revolt was released in 2010, 20 years after the death of George Rawick.