Laski, Harold J

Laski, Harold J(oseph)

(born June 30, 1893, Manchester, Eng.—died March 24, 1950, London) British political scientist, educator, and political leader. Educated at the University of Oxford, he taught at McGill University and Harvard University before returning to Britain to work for the Labour Party. He later taught at the London School of Economics (1926–50). He argued in works such as The State in Theory and Practice (1935) that the economic difficulties of capitalism might lead to the destruction of political democracy, and he came to view socialism as the only alternative to fascism. He was an assistant to Clement R. Attlee during World War II.