Paul Burkett: May 26, 1956-January 7, 2024

 Kamran Nayeri, January 11, 2024

Sadly, I just learned that Paul Burkett died last Sunday from complications of acute myeloid leukemia. I came to know Paul as a fellow Union of Radical Political Economics (URPE) member in the late 1980s and if I remember correctly, he was twice co-participating in the same URPE panel discussion at the American Economic Association annual conferences. Like me, Paul was interested in late capitalist development, which was the theme of his earlier presentation. He collaborated with Martin Hart-Landsberg of Lewis and Clark (Development, Crisis, and Class Struggle 2000). But by the early 1990s, he began researching capitalism and nature, leading to his excellent book Marx and Nature: A Red and Green Perspective (1999). In that book, Paul gave a reading of Marx that illuminates his views on aspects of the problem of society and nature, or what he and John Bellamy Foster later called Marx's ecological insight. 

The last time I saw Paul was in Havana, Cuba, in May 2003 during The Works of Karl Marx and the Challenges of the 21st Century conference, the first of such conferences organized by the Philosophy Institute of Cuba. That conference attracted leftists from the Americas, Europe, and elsewhere and took place in a tense political moment. In March, George W. Bush invaded Iraq under false claims and overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime. Already, Bush's administration was threatening to invade Cuba. On April 2, six men using arms hijacked a ferry in Havana Bay and ordered the captain to sail to the United States. The Cuban government captured and tried those involved, and three ring leaders, Lorenzo Enrique Copello Castillo, Barbaro Leodan Sevilla Garcia, and Jorge Luis Martinez Isaac, were sentenced to death for endangering lives and threatening the security of the country and were executed. 

Some of the participants in the conference created a petition to the Cuban government that condemned the execution of these men and demanded that Cuba end capital punishment on the books since the triumph of the revolution in 1959. Paul and I disagreed on signing the petition. He did, and I did not. I did not, not because I am not against capital punishment; I am. But at the same time, if a revolution faces imperialist invasion and some armed individuals threaten the safety of some citizens and provide a pretext for imperialist invasion, they must be held accountable and dealt with according to the law. In this situation, I would not second guess the government of Cuba at such a critical time. Soon after the petition had circulated, one late afternoon before dinner time, Fidel Castro unexpectedly arrived in the lobby of our hotel. He held a conversation with some of the conference participants. I do not know if Paul attended that meeting; I was already gone for another meeting elsewhere. But Fidel discussed the situation and presented the reason for the executions to those present.  

While I respected his views, I disagreed with Paul's uncritical support for Bernie Sanders. However, he was not alone among socialists and ecosocialists in such illusions. I left System Change, not Climate Change, a network of ecosocialists in part because its key leaders uncritically supported Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she was elected and promoted herself as the champion of the vague idea she called Green New Deal to combat climate change from the halls of U.S. Congress.  

Paul was several years ahead of me in recognizing and embracing ecosocialism. I considered myself an ecosocialist starting in 2000, and Paul's book, among others, was part of my coming up to speed about the theories of ecosocialism. I differed with Paul in his rereading of Marx in that while he was a pioneer in finding valuable aspects of Marx's interest in nature, he, Foster, or Saito, who claimed Marx was an ecosocialist, never tried to ask how these insights relate to historical materialism and his labor theory of value which quite consciously set aside nature to focus only on society (see, Nayeri, 2003). I tried to engage Paul in discussing these issues, but he was dismissive. I know now that this lack of interest in such discussion was at least in part due to his critical illness, which he did not disclose to me.

Like Paul, I love jazz and wanted to learn to play saxophone. After the death of his beloved son, Paul picked up the saxophone, learned to play it well, and even composed short pieces he shared with me. However, I noticed there was always something dark in his music, which I attributed to the continued grieving of the loss of his son. Perhaps his failing health was also responsible.  

Paul was a creative and passionate human being and contributed significantly to our understanding of Marx's evolving view of society and nature. I will miss him. 

Below is the obituary in Tribune Star.

TERRE HAUTE - Dr. Paul Burkett, 67, of Terre Haute, IN, died from sudden complications of acute myeloid leukemia on January 7, 2024. He died at home, lovingly attended by his wife Suzanne and son Shaun.

Paul was born in Wyandotte, MI in 1956 to William Loyd Burkett and Dorothy Whalen Burkett.
Paul attended Wyandotte Roosevelt High School, Kalamazoo College, and received his PhD in Economics at Syracuse University. His teaching career began at Syracuse and took him to Auburn Correctional Facility in New York, the University of Miami, and Indiana State University, from which he retired in June of 2020.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents, his twin brother Patrick J. Burkett, and his youngest son Patrick M. Burkett. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Suzanne (Zann) Carter; sons Ian (Lisa) Hussey and Shaun Hussey; daughter Molly Burkett; granddaughters Sophia Hussey and Raven Renn, and his brothers Philip (DeAnn) Burkett, Charles Burkett, and Richard (Karen) Burkett; as well as many loving nephews and nieces.

An intellectual and scholar, Paul published many books, journal articles, notes, reviews, and book chapters in his field. He felt his most important books are Marx and Nature: A Red And Green Perspective (1999) and Marxism and Ecological Economics (2006). He was passionate about his work, Socialism, the planet, and justice.

And Jazz! He began playing the saxophone when his son Patrick died, as a way to cope with deep grief, and proceeded to bring to his study of the instrument, of jazz, and of music in general, the same focus and fierce dedication he brought to his academic work. Calling himself PapaPatty in honor of Patrick, he played in many venues all around the area for almost two decades.
He asked only for a simple memorial gathering in late spring so that's what we'll do. Any donations in his honor can be made to Doctors Without Borders.
www.debaunfuneralhomes.com