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Research in the dictionaryThe UCSC Sociology Department faculty research interests fall into one or more of these three areas:

  • Political Economies and Political Ecologies

  • New Studies of Inequality

  • Culture, Knowledge, and Power

Political Economies and Political Ecologies

This area is related to long-standing sociological concerns with the nature of modernity and the transition from feudalism to capitalism; and to sociology's familiar interest in large-scale social organization and the processes of historical change. It is also related to more recent literature analyzing industrialization, underdevelopment, colonialism, and the world system, and to orthodox sociological subfields such as political sociology and social movements. It applies well-established methods of political economy and comparative and historical analysis.

Hillary Angelo

  • Website
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Urban studies, Environmental History, Social Theory, Sustainability
Individual profile page for Hillary Angelo

Lindsey Dillon

  • Website
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Activism, Environmental Justice, Science and Technology, American Studies, More...
Individual profile page for Lindsey Dillon

James Doucet‑Battle

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Deborah Gould

  • Website
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Social Movements, Social Theory, Political Theory, Affect Studies, More...
Individual profile page for Deborah Gould

Steve McKay

  • Website
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Labor and Social Movements, Immigration, Critical Race and More...
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Juan Manuel Pedroza

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Helen Shapiro

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    New Studies of Inequality

    Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality: This area is also related to familiar mainstream concerns in sociology. The study of class structure is the intellectual forerunner of revised notions about the central axes of inequality. We conceptualize this area largely in terms of social stratification, but with an eye toward more recent theoretical and empirical studies of race, gender, and sexuality. Indeed, social stratification is a central empirical concern of sociology, while gender (at least in the form of the sociology of the family) and race/ethnicity are traditional subfields. Our intention is to move toward the cutting edge of theory in linking these axes together, and away from the purely descriptive focus of traditional stratification studies.

    J Bettie

    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Cultural Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender More...
    Individual profile page for J Bettie

    Lindsey Dillon

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Activism, Environmental Justice, Science and Technology, American Studies, More...
    Individual profile page for Lindsey Dillon

    James Doucet‑Battle

    Individual profile page for James Doucet-Battle

    Deborah Gould

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Social Movements, Social Theory, Political Theory, Affect Studies, More...
    Individual profile page for Deborah Gould

    Hiroshi Fukurai

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Legal Studies, International and Global Affairs, Race, Critical More...
    Individual profile page for Hiroshi Fukurai

    Camilla Hawthorne

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, African Diaspora, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African More...
    Individual profile page for Camilla Hawthorne

    Naya Jones

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    Juhee Kang

    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, New Media, Science and Technology, International Development, More...
    Individual profile page for Juhee Kang

    Rebecca A London

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Schools and Academic Achievement, Community-based Research, Health and More...
    Individual profile page for Rebecca A London

    Steve McKay

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Labor and Social Movements, Immigration, Critical Race and More...
    Individual profile page for Steve McKay

    Juan Manuel Pedroza

    Individual profile page for Juan Manuel Pedroza

    Jenny Reardon

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Science and Technology, History of Science, New Media, Genomics
    Individual profile page for Jenny Reardon

    Alicia R. Riley

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    Veronica Terriquez

    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Immigration, Labor and Social Movements, Social Justice, More...
    Individual profile page for Veronica Terriquez

    Culture, Knowledge, and Power

    This third area is represented in several traditional sociological concerns-culture, knowledge, religion, and art, as well as in methodological topics in fieldwork, ethnographic analysis, and other qualitative studies- and culture and the symbolic, linking together cultural studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, women's studies, and area and ethnic studies. Many of the topics studied under this rubric-symbolic interaction, social problems theory, the sociology of science, culture, and knowledge, and the study of language-are current specialties of our existing faculty.

    Hillary Angelo

    • Title
      • Associate Professor
    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Urban studies, Environmental History, Social Theory, Sustainability
    Individual profile page for Hillary Angelo

    J Bettie

    • Title
      • Associate Professor
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Cultural Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender More...
    Individual profile page for J Bettie

    James Doucet‑Battle

    • Title
      • Associate Professor
    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Science and Technology, Anthropology, African Diaspora, More...
    Individual profile page for James Doucet-Battle

    Deborah Gould

    • Title
      • Associate Professor
    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Social Movements, Social Theory, Political Theory, Affect Studies, More...
    Individual profile page for Deborah Gould

    Miriam Greenberg

    • Title
      • Professor and Chair
    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Urban studies, Cultural Studies, Environmental Studies
    Individual profile page for Miriam Greenberg

    Naya Jones

    • Title
      • Assistant Professor & Core Faculty in Global and Community Health Program
    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise African Diaspora, African American / Black Studies, Agroecology and More...
    Individual profile page for Naya Jones

    Juhee Kang

    • Title
      • Assistant Teaching Professor
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, New Media, Science and Technology, International Development, More...
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    Jaimie Morse

    • Title
      • Assistant Professor
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Legal Studies, Science and Technology, Health and Wellness, More...
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    Jenny Reardon

    • Title
      • Professor
    • Website
    • Faculty Areas of Expertise Sociology, Science and Technology, History of Science, New Media, Genomics
    Individual profile page for Jenny Reardon