I'm forwarding this I received from Andrew Kliman. A. ------------------------------- From: "Drewk" <Andrew_Kliman@msn.com> To: <akliman@pace.edu> Subject: Dear Supporters Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 23:01:40 -0500 Please Circulate Widely ----------------------- A VICTORY FOR PLURALISM! February 12, 2002 Dear Supporters of Pluralism, We were completely outmatched in terms of money and power, but we have won a tremendous victory! This is a time for celebration. It is also a time to capitalize on our victory by intensifying the struggle for pluralism, especially pluralism *within* radical economics. We faced a far richer and more powerful adversary, the Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE). But what proved to be more important than money and power is what *we* had –– the knowledge that our cause is just, and the determination to fight for it to the end, without regard for the consequences. As a result, a charge of professional misconduct that jeopardized my ability to earn a living no longer hangs over my head, and we have broken the publishing ban imposed on me by URPE’s journal. (For those not yet aware of the specifics, I have appended below part of a recent message by Alan Freeman. Please note that the URPE statement also appears in the latest “URPE Newsletter,” Winter 2002, p. 3.) I wish to extend my deepest thanks to all of you who stood by me during that frightening and miserable time when my ability to work and my reputation were threatened. Your advice was of inestimable value. Even more important was your plain human support. It kept my spirits up time and time again, helping me to bear up under the suffering. This victory truly could not have been won without you. Yet it is not only a personal victory. It is a victory for all of us. Editorial boards that would want to act as censorship boards will now have to think twice before banning or otherwise mistreating authors with whom they disagree. Schools of thought that would rather launch ad hominem attacks on opponents than engage in open theoretical debate will have to think twice. Professional associations that would sacrifice all principles and ostracize their internal critics for the sake of institutional survival will have to think twice. The more widely we spread the word about the victory we have *all* won, the more widespread will be the benefits we *all* reap. There is also another sense in which it is important to spread the word. We have won a victory in part because, instead of just complaining privately about violations of the norms of pluralism, we were willing to “go public,” to expose them openly. It is time to intensify such efforts. I sense in URPE’s statement the beginning of a more cooperative attitude, which I eagerly welcome. I pledge my complete and unstinting cooperation to all members of URPE who wish to help us right the wrongs that have been done and repudiate the parties responsible for them. Let us together ensure that URPE no longer functions as a union against other people’s radical economics (AESA, IWGVT, post-Keynesians, etc.). Andrew Kliman -------------------- From: Alan Freeman [mailto:a.freeman@greenwich.ac.uk] Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 9:36 PM To: carchedi@fee.uva.nl Subject: Obstacle to pluralism removed Dear Friend … I am now writing on a happier note to inform you that URPE has retracted the false charge it made against [Dr] Andrew [Kliman] and has lifted the publishing ban imposed on him. RRPE and its agents falsely charged that Andrew violated professional ethics by submitting a paper to another journal while it was still under review at the RRPE, and banned all further articles authored by him. In its retraction, which I reproduce below, URPE accepts that the paper was no longer under review when Andrew submitted it elsewhere. Although the fundamental underlying issue of pluralism remains unresolved, since Andrew's paper was never reviewed again and the appeal he requested was never granted, nevertheless the retraction removes a decisive obstacle to genuine scholarly debate around this substantive question. This must now develop on the basis of a recognition of the legitimate contribution and right to be heard of all principal schools of thought, unfettered by any restrictions or charges concerning persons which in any way restrict the access of the reading public to the ideas that they hold. Below is the text of URPE's retraction which is published on its website at (http://www.urpe.org/rrpehome.html) STATEMENT BY URPE STEERING COMMITTEE, HAZEL DAYTON GUNN, MANAGING EDITOR OF RRPE, THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF RRPE: Dr. Andrew Kliman believed that Hazel Dayton Gunn disseminated a claim that he had violated professional ethics by publishing an article in another journal while it was still under review by the RRPE. WE WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WHEN HE SUBMITTED A REVISED VERSION OF THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION TO ANOTHER JOURNAL, THE MANUSCRIPT HAD ALREADY BEEN REJECTED BY RRPE. However, a misunderstanding arose after Dr. Kliman requested an appeal of the original rejection. The matter has now been settled and THE EDITORIAL BOARD HAS REMOVED THE SANCTION DENYING DR. KLIMAN THE RIGHT TO SUBMIT ARTICLES TO RRPE FOR PUBLICATION. There was no intention to inflict harm on Dr. Kliman. [emphases added]
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