Joe Soss, the inaugural Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota, with faculty positions in the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, the departments of political science and of sociology, will explore how government and corporate actors systematically use criminal justice practices to strip resources from poor communities of color. Taking a historical view, Soss will discuss the fundamental roles that criminal justice predation has played in race-making and political and economic development in the U.S.
Professor Soss's Athenaeum presentation is part of the "Race Across Disciplines" series which explores how different academic disciplines approach research, insights, and findings around race and is supported by CMC's Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America.
Joe Soss is the inaugural Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota, where he holds faculty positions in the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, the department of political science, and the department of sociology. His research and teaching explore the interplay of politics, inequalities, and public policy.
Soss’s work has focused primarily on how various forms of social welfare and criminal justice governance in the U.S. have intersected with class, race, and gender as intersecting axes of oppression and predation. Soss's co-authored book, Disciplining the Poor (2011), was selected for the 2012 Michael Harrington Award (APSA, New Political Science), the 2012 Oliver Cromwell Cox Award (ASA, Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities), the 2012 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award (American Library Association), and the 2015 Herbert Simon Award (APSA, Section on Public Administration).
In 2016, Soss was honored with the University of Minnesota's campus-wide award for outstanding contributions to graduate education, named a Distinguished University Teaching Professor, and inducted into the UMN Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Soss's current book project, co-authored with Joshua Page, is Preying on the Poor: Criminal Justice as Revenue Racket.
PProfessor Soss's Athenaeum presentation is part of the "Race Across Disciplines" series which explores how different academic disciplines approach research, insights, and findings around race and is supported by CMC's Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America.
Food for Thought: Podcast with Joe Soss
