Susan George, in Paris, in 2010. ULF ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES
American-born political scientist and essayist, Susan George, author of numerous books and an anti-globalization activist, died on February 14 in Paris at the age of 91. Her work raised public awareness in France and across Europe about the harms of neoliberal globalization and the dangers posed to democracy and social progress by multinational corporations and multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Born on June 29, 1934, into a wealthy American family, she came to France to study in the late 1960s, during the Vietnam War. She married in France and remained there, becoming a French citizen in 1994. A student of philosophy and political science, George became involved with the Paris American Committee to Stop War, where she met researchers from the Institute for Policy Studies. Its founder, Samuel Rubin, wanted to open a European branch to escape the repression then affecting American campuses. This led to the creation of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam in 1974, of which George became a pillar and later president. Its mission was to provide social movements fighting for democracy, justice and progress with the knowledge and analysis needed to hold sway in public debate.
