Lionel R Cliffe (1936 – 24 October 2013) was an English political economist and activist whose work focused on the struggle for land rights and freedom in Africa from the 1960s. He was Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds.
Cliffe was educated at King Edward VII Grammar School in Sheffield and at the University of Nottingham where he read Economics with Mathematics and Statistics. A conscientious objector, he was excused national service and instead worked for four years in the late 1950s as an Information and Research Assistant for Oxfam in Oxford.
In 1961 Cliffe went to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to teach at Kivukoni adult education college and later at the University of Dar es Salaam where he was Director of Development Studies. [1] He undertook fieldwork in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
Cliffe returned to the UK in 1976 and taught briefly at the Universities of Sheffield and Durham before being appointed Lecturer in Politics at the University of Leeds in 1978. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1982, Reader in 1988 and Professor in 1990. There he helped develop what is now Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) and also the journal Review of African Political Economy. [2] Cliffe retired as Emeritus Professor in 2001.
In 2002 the African Studies Association of the UK marked his career with the Distinguished Africanist award. [3]
Cliffe died on 24 October 2013 at the age of 77 after being diagnosed with myeloma.
Lionel R Cliffe (1936 – 24 October 2013) was an English political economist and activist whose work focused on the struggle for land rights and freedom in Africa from the 1960s. He was Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds.
Cliffe was educated at King Edward VII Grammar School in Sheffield and at the University of Nottingham where he read Economics with Mathematics and Statistics. A conscientious objector, he was excused national service and instead worked for four years in the late 1950s as an Information and Research Assistant for Oxfam in Oxford.
In 1961 Cliffe went to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to teach at Kivukoni adult education college and later at the University of Dar es Salaam where he was Director of Development Studies. [1] He undertook fieldwork in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
Cliffe returned to the UK in 1976 and taught briefly at the Universities of Sheffield and Durham before being appointed Lecturer in Politics at the University of Leeds in 1978. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1982, Reader in 1988 and Professor in 1990. There he helped develop what is now Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) and also the journal Review of African Political Economy. [2] Cliffe retired as Emeritus Professor in 2001.
In 2002 the African Studies Association of the UK marked his career with the Distinguished Africanist award. [3]
Cliffe died on 24 October 2013 at the age of 77 after being diagnosed with myeloma.