Otto Newman (born Otto Neumann) is an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at San Diego State University, where he has been since 1987. His extensive writings have been published on four continents. His main works include: Gambling: Hazard and Reward (London University Press) and The Challenge of Corporatism (Macmillan). He has also authored extensive research reports leading to policy implementation.
Otto Newman | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 2, 1922 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Oxford University, Inter BSc London University, B.A. London School of Economics, M.A., Ph.D. |
| Known for | The American Dream in the Information Age (1999) The Promise of the Third Way: Globalization and Social Justice (2001) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Sociology |
| Institutions | San Diego State University University of California, San Diego University of Illinois at Springfield South Bank University, London University of Stirling, Scotland |
Life history
editOtto Neumann was born on July 2,1922 in Vienna, Austria, and at the age of 16 was able to escape from Vienna on December 13, 1938 from the Wien Westbahnhof, on the final Kindertransport out of Vienna.
After arriving in England, he was kept at Dovercourt holiday camp until arrangements could be made for further care. He was offered a home with an English family, but after taking a placement exam was chosen as one of six older children arriving on the Kindertransport to earn a spot at Oxford University, studying there for 3 years.
He was unable to finish studies at Oxford due to his being interned as an enemy alien on the first day of his inter-BSC college exam. On July 2, 1940, Otto’s 18th birthday, he was rounded up and eventually shipped to the Isle of Man. Later, he was transferred to the transit camp at the Lingfield horseracing track.
Otto was due to sail on two different deportation ships, one bound for Australia, and one for North America. Upon arriving at the docks, each time he found that his name had been left off the final boarding lists. Both times the ships were sunk by enemy action.
After being released from internment Otto managed to find work in London and served his duty as a fire watcher during the war. When allowed, Otto volunteered to serve in the RAF, but was rejected when it was learned that his parents were still in Vienna. He then volunteered for factory work and was sent to a place producing pistons for fighter aircraft where he worked for a short time.
At the age of 22 Otto became a professional gambler until the end of the war.
Engaging in sports he was, for Two years running, Chelsea & Kensington's 100–yard swimming champion. In the last year of the war he made the final in the British Open table-tennis championship beating two highly ranked players on the way and eventually losing to the world champion after a tough fight – no doubt his outstanding sporting achievement. Otto was picked inside right for the Alliance League football team, the strongest combined amateur football team, only to fall victim to a clumsy tackle tearing his left knee cartilage.
Marrying June Pattenden on June 6, 1946, Otto soon had two children and worked as Company Secretary for a West End fashion house.
Later he went into business as a clothing manufacturer under the name of Paul Asker Fashions. The most successful item of manufacture was his introduction of the Hoop Skirt in the 1950s, which was designed by his wife.
Leaving his successful manufacturing business at the age of 40, Otto Newman returned to academia to complete his studies at London University, earning his Diploma in Sociology in 1964. He continued at the London School of Economics earning his BSc (Soc) in 1966 and his PhD in Sociology in 1970.
From 1968 to 1971 he was a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Stirling, in Scotland.
In 1971 he moved to the South Bank University in London, where he chaired the department of Social Sciences at South Bank University from 1975 to 1986. He also directed the Lifestyle Research Unit, closely linked to the Greater London Council, cooperating in effecting policies enhancing the prospects for the city’s youth. He served on the Executive of the British Sociological Association for a number of years, chairing the Publications Committee, editing the Sociology in Practice series and actively involved in the Sociology editorial board.
In 1986, accepting a visiting lecturer at University of Illinois at Springfield. Moving to California in 1987 he accepted a position at San Diego State University. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, San Diego from 1987 to 1990. Now an adjunct professor at San Diego State University, he remains active in teaching, research and publishing. He has just finished (2008) writing his memoirs in a self-published work called “Escapes and Adventures: A 20th Century Odyssey.”
Qualifications
editInter BSc (Math/Eng), Oxford University, 1940
DipSoc (double distinction), London University, 1964
BSc (Soc), London School of Economics, London University, 1966
PhD (Soc), London School of Economics, London University, 1970
Professional appointments
edit1987- Professor/Adjunct Professor, San Diego State University
1987-1990 Visiting Scholar, University of California, San Diego
1971-1987 South Bank University, London:
1971-1974 Principal Lecturer
1974-1986 Chair, Department of Social Sciences
(1986 Faculty: 32 tenured, 18 part-time, 11
Research Fellows/Assistants)
1984-1987 Director, Lifestyle Research Unit, South Bank University,
London
1981-1982 Visiting Professor, University of Illinois at Springfield
1968-1971 Lecturer, Sociology, University of Stirling, Scotland
1950-1964 Managing Director, Commerce and Industry
1945-1950 Company Secretary
Research Activity
editGambling: Social Issues and Motivations
Corporatism
Unemployed Youth
Leisure Studies and Lifestyle Enhancement
Community Motivators
Football Hooliganism
Politics of Unreason
American Exceptionalism
Affluence and Post-Scarcity Society
Communitarianism
The Future of the American Dream
The Promise of the Third Way
Soft Power
Globalization, Terrorism and Human Rights
Professional academic appointments
editCouncil for National Academic Awards, London, 1973-1983:
Sociological Studies Board
National Visiting and Award Boards
National Advisory Boards
South Bank University, 1971-1987:
Academic Board
Faculty Board
Higher Degree Committee; Vice-Chair
Planning and Resource Board; Vice-Chair
Degree Validation Board
Faculty Appointment Board
British Sociological Association:
Publications Committee; Chair 1975-1980
National Executive Board; 1976-1984
Coordinating Committee; 1979-1980
Sociology , Journal of the British Sociological Association: Editorial Board, 1976-1980
Sociology in Practice, Series Editor, Croom Helm, 1981-1984
Greater London Council:
Consultant: Arts & Recreation, 1983-1986
Industrial Enterprise Board, 1984-1986
Steering Committee, Arts & Recreation, 1983-1986
Sports Committee, Arts & Recreation, 1985-1986
National Gambling Board, London, 1973-1980
Publications
editGambling: Hazard and Reward (1972). London: University of London Press.
The Challenge of Corporatism (l981). New Studies in Sociology. London: Macmillan.
Escapes and Adventures: A 20th Century Odyssey. Lulu Press, 2008
With Richard DeZoysa:
The American Dream in the Information Age (1999). UK: Macmillan
USA: St. Martin’s Press.
The Promise of the Third Way (2001. UK: Palgrave; USA: St. Martin’s Press.
The American Dream in the Information Age (2002). Mandarin edition. Beijing, China: Social Sciences Documentation Publishing House.
Towards Progress and Peace: Globalization, Terrorism and Human Rights (2005). Bloomington, Ind: Author House.
Journals and research reports
edit“Family Planning: Past and Present"; Sociological Society, March 1965
“Elites and Society”; Sociological Society, June 1965
“The Sociology of the Betting Shop”; British Journal of Sociology,
19(1), March 1968
“The Gambling Problem”; Social Service Quarterly, Summer 1972
“The Sociology of Social Problems”; Canadian Review of
Sociology and Anthropology, 12(4), 1976
“Leisure and Life Styles”; Ontario Psychologist, 8(2), 1976
“The Educator’s Dilemma”; British Journal of Educational Studies,
25(1), 1977
“The Newly Acquisitive Affluent Worker”; Sociology, 13(1), 1979
“Education for Social Dominance and Control”; New Education,
2(1), 1980
“Class Matters”, Sociology , 14(1), 1980
“Corporatism, Leisure and Collective Control”; Centre for Work
And Leisure Studies, Salford University, 1981
“Leisure Counselling Today”; World Congress of Sociology, Mexico
City, 1982
“Leisure Counselling”; Centre for Work and Leisure Studies, Salford
University, 1982
“The Coming of a Leisure Society?”; Leisure Studies, 2(1) 1983
“Leisure and Social Change”; Education and Society, 1(1), 1983
“Lifestyle Enhancement for the Young Unemployed”; Report No1
Greater London Council, 1983
“Training for the Young Unemployed”; Industrial Enterprise Board,
1983
“Community Activator: a Case for Action”; Greater London Council, 1984
“The Learning of Lifestyle Enhancement”; Inner London Education
Authority, 1984
“From Employment to Work”; Industrial Enterprise Board, 1984
“Proactivism: The Answer to Youth Unemployment?”; Greater London
Council, 1985
“The Causes of Unemployment”; Greater London Council, 1985
“Unemployment, Work and the New Post- Industrialism”; European
Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions, 1985
“Soccer Violence: Initial Observations”; Greater London Council,
1985
“Hooligans At Home and Abroad”; Greater London Council, 1985
“Youth since Industrialisation”; Greater London Council, 1985
“Soccer: A Brief Social History”; Greater London Council, 1986
“Recreation and Lifestyle for the Young Unemployed”; Greater
London Council, 1986,Summary Report No2 (with Maureen Farish and Peter Miller)
“Policies for the Lost Generation”; Greater London Council, 1986,
Summary Report No3 (assisted by Maureen Farish and
Peter Miller)
“Why Us: From Paragons to Pariahs”; London Residuary Authority,
1986
“Don’t Be A Jerk”; London Residuary Authority, 1986
“White Collar Hooliganism”; London Residuary Authority, 1986
“The Brixton Recreation Centre: Analysis of a Political Institution”;
London Residuary Authority, 1986 (with Karl Murray)
With Richard DeZoysa:
“American Exceptionalism: Against the Tide Again?”; South Bank
University, Occasional Papers No 2, 1993
“American Policy Choices for a New Era”; Contemporary Politics,
1(3), 1995
“The Underclass, Welfare and Joblessness”; California Sociological
Association, 1995
“The Republican Vision”; The Discoursi, Sundsvall: Sweden, 1996
“Prospects for a Revitalised Community”; Contemporary Politics,
2(4), 1996
“Virtues, Values and Identity"; The Americana, Spring 1997
“Food: Feast of Famine"; The Americana, Summer 1997
"The New World Order: Then and Now”; The Americana, Fall 1997
“Perspectives on Civic Society: the Prospect"; DMI Rapport, No 2
Demokratiinstitutet,: Sweden
"Communitarianism- a New Panacea?”; Sociological Perspectives,
40(4), 1997
“Exploring the Idea of A Third Way: A New Agenda for The Global
Era”; The Discoursi, Sundsvall: Sweden Winter 2000
“The Third Way Alternative: America’s New Political Agenda"; Contemporary Sociology Winter 6(3) Winter 2000
“Globalization, Soft Power and the Challenge of Hollywood"; Contemporary Politics, 8(3) June 2002
"American Declinism and the Third Way Option"; 2(2) June 2007
Holocaust testimony
editOtto Newman's video testimony is located in the library collections of:
Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
Holocaust Museum Houston
Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre
Imperial War Museum, London, U.K.
Yad Vashem, Israel