John H(omer) Schaar (July 7, 1928-December 26, 2011) was a scholar and political theorist. He was a Professor Emeritus at the [University of California, Santa Cruz]. Schaar was born in Montoursville, PA, USA and raised on a farm in a Lutheran family.
Schaar received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from University of California, Los Angeles. He taught political theory at the University of California, Berkeley, where his theory colleagues included Sheldon Wolin, Norman Jacobson, Michael Rogin, and Hanna Pitkin. In 1970 he moved to U.C., Santa Cruz. At Berkeley, he was a significant influence on the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. His closest students include the late Wilson Carey McWilliams, Jeff Lustig, Douglas Lummis, Marge Frantz, J. Peter Euben, Frank Bardacke, and Joshua Miller. He has also frequently taught at Deep Springs College. His central political values include community, democracy, and political participation. He has published articles on patriotism, equality, and authority. He advocates the decentralization of political and economic power.
He is married to political theorist Hanna Pitkin, and together they resided in the Santa Cruz mountains.