Social Science Space

Political scientist Lucius Barker, a pioneering African-American academic whose influence in fields like constitutional law and civil liberties has been amplified by the high-profile leaders he mentored, died on June 21. He was 92.

Remembering the Italian economist who once wrote, “Racial animosity in the US makes redistribution to the poor, who are disproportionately black, unappealing to many voters. American political institutions limited the growth of a socialist party, and more generally limited the political power of the poor.”

Marcia Worrell, an engaged professor of psychology and psychological researcher, died suddenly on April 14 at age 54. Over the […]

Mark Easterby-Smith, a pioneer in the creation of research methodology for management studies and co-author of the foundational text of that field, died on April 15 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 72.

Roger Matthews, one a group of influential British criminologists who challenged both the dominant rightist “administrative” conception of law and order and what they viewed an idealistic perspective of crime from the left, has died from the effects of the coronavirus.

Vicky Randall, a political scientist whose research into how marginalized populations – such as women, the aged, and those outside the First World – can and do interact in politics, died on November 22. The emeritus professor of government at Essex University was 74.

Remembering criminologist Joan Petersilia who spent her career examining the agencies that conduct U.S. criminal justice, and whose solidly evidence-based work was a major influence in affecting corrections and sentencing reforms.

Rom Harré, a philosopher deeply engaged in critically examining the attributes and vulnerabilities of the social sciences, and who was both an early computational researcher and an incredibly prolific academic author, died October 17 at age 91.

Wade Clark Roof, a sociologist of religion whose work examined the evolving spirituality of the Baby Boomer generation in such words as A Generation of Seekers, has died.

The late South African musician Johnny Clegg was also an anthropologist both formally, as a lecturer on ethnography, and informally as he continued a teaching career from the stage.

Princeton economist Alan Krueger, who The New York Times described as “help[ing] lead economics toward a more scientific approach to research and policymaking” in his repeated stints in the public sector, has died at age 58.

Sociologist Erik Olin Wright, who died last week at age 71, spent his career trying to imagine practical alternatives to capitalism.