Michael McQuarrie

I am a sociologist at Arizona State University where I direct the Center for Work and Democracy. I am also an Associate Professor in the School of Social Transformation. The main purpose of my work at the Center for Work and Democracy is to address the exclusion of working people from the polity and the marginalization of their voices in their communities and workplaces. In particular, the Center is concerned with the institutional, organizational, and political dimensions of marginalization and empowerment.

My own research concerns are protest and politics, governance, organizations, civil society, and political culture. I am currently conducting ethnographic research in George Floyd Square, the autonomous zone at the site where George Floyd was murdered on May, 25, 2020. Other projects include: place and politics, urban governance, social movement repertoires, and the politicization of care. I teach classes on populism and right-wing authoritarianism, social movements, social change organizations, political sociology, urban sociology, and care and social solidarity. I have conducted qualitative research around the world, including in New York, Cleveland, Mumbai, London, Berlin, Nottingham, and Minneapolis.

Prior to arriving at Arizona State, I have held appointments at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of California, Davis. I have a Ph.D in sociology from New York University and a Masters in history from Duke University. Prior to starting my doctoral work at NYU, I worked as a labor organizer in West Virginia, Ohio, and New York, and I worked as a community organizer in the South Bronx. New York City is always home.

Writing

Books

• 2015. Democratizing Inequalities: Dilemmas of the New Public Participation (with Caroline Lee and Edward Walker, eds.), NYU Press, 2015
• 2012. Remaking Urban Citizenship: Organizations, Institutions, and the Right to the City (with Michael Peter Smith, eds.), Transaction, 2012.

Academic Articles

• 2018. (with Nuno F. da Cruz and Philipp Rode) "New urban governance: A review of current themes and future priorities, Journal of Urban Affairs, 41(1): 1-19.
• 2017. "The revolt of the rust belt: Place and politics in the age of anger." British Journal of Sociology, 68(S1): 120-152.
• 2013. (with Naresh Fernandes and Cassim Shepard) "The field of struggle, the office, and the flat: Protest and aspiration in a Mumbai slum". Public Culture, 25(2): 315-348.
• 2013. (with Nicole Marwell) "People, place, and system: Organizations and the renewal of urban social theory". ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 647 (1): 126-143.
• 2013. "Community organizations in the foreclosure crisis: The failure of neoliberal civil society." Politics and Society, 41(1): 73-101.
• 2013. "No contest: Participatory technologies and the transformation of urban authorit." Public Culture, 25(1): 143-175.
• 2011. (with Norman Krumholz) "Institutionalized social skill and the rise of mediating organizations in urban governance: The case of the Cleveland Housing Network". Housing Policy Debate, 21(3): 421-442.
• 2009. (with Nicole Marwell) "The missing organizational dimension in urban sociology". City and Community, 8(3): 247-268.
• 2008. (with Doug Guthrie) "Providing for the public good: Corporate-community relations in the era of the receding welfare state". City and Community, 7(2): 113-139.
• 2005. (with Doug Guthrie) "Privatization and low-income housing in the United States since 1986". Research in Political Sociology, 14: 15-51.

Chapters

• 2020. “Race and Participation in the Neoliberal City: Black Politics in Cleveland, 1965-2010. In Thomas Sugrue and Andrew Diamond (eds.), Neoliberal Cities: The Remaking of Postwar Urban America. NYU Press.
• 2015. “Rising Participation and Declining Democracy” (with Caroline Lee and Edward Walker). Pp. 3-23 in Michael McQuarrie, Caroline Lee, and Edward Walker (eds.), Democratizing Inequalities: Dilemmas of the New Public Participation. NYU Press.
• 2015. “Realizing the Promise of Public Participation in an Age of Inequality” (with Caroline Lee and Edward Walker). Pp. 247-250 in Michael McQuarrie, Caroline Lee, and Edward Walker (eds.), Democratizing Inequalities: Dilemmas of the New Public Participation. NYU Press.
• 2015. “No Contest: Participatory Technologies and the Transformation of Urban Authority.” Pp. 83-101 in in Michael McQuarrie, Caroline Lee, and Edward Walker (eds.), Democratizing Inequalities: Dilemmas of the New Public Participation. NYU Press.
• 2013. “Postindustrial Society.” In Vicki Smith, ed. Sociology of Work. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 694-696.
• 2012. (With Michael Peter Smith) “Introduction,” pp. 1-10 in Michael Peter Smith and Michael McQuarrie, eds. Remaking Urban Citizenship: Organizations, Institutions, and the Right to the City. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction.
• 2012. (With Craig Calhoun) “The Reluctant Counterpublic.” Pp. 152-181 in Craig Calhoun, The Roots of Radicalism: Tradition, the Public Sphere, and Early Nineteenth-Century Social Movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• 2010. “Nonprofits and the Reconstruction of Urban Governance: Housing Production and Community Development in Cleveland, 1975-2005.” Pp. 237-268 in Elisabeth Clemens and Doug Guthrie, eds., Politics and Partnerships: Associations and Nonprofit Organizations in American Governance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• 2009. “Community Development Organizations.” In The International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, edited by Helmut Anheier and Stefan Toepler. New York: Springer
• 2007. (With Craig Calhoun) “Public Discourse and Political Experience: T.J. Wooler and Transformations of the Public Sphere in Early 19th Century Britain.” Pp. 197-239 in Alex Benchimol and Willy Maley, eds. Spheres of Influence: Intellectual Publics and Public Intellectuals from Milton to Habermas, Frankfurt: Peter Lang AG.
• 2006. (With Doug Guthrie) “Houses for the Poor and New Business for Banks: The Creation of a Market for Affordable Housing.” Pp. 249-258 in Business Solutions for Addressing Global Poverty, John Quelch and Kash Rangan, eds. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass