Overview
I am trained in class analysis, political sociology, and sociology of development (globalization). However, my work in the last 20 years has been in the area of race. I have published on racial theory, race and methodology, color-blind racism, the idea that race stratification in the USA is becoming Latin America-like, racial grammar, HWCUs, race and human rights, race and citizenship, whiteness, and the Obama phenomenon among other things. In all my work, I contend that racism is fundamentally about "racial domination," hence, racism is a collective and structural phenomenon in society (see my 1997 ASR on this matter).
Current Appointments & Affiliations
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology
·
2018 - Present
Sociology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Sociology
·
2006 - Present
Sociology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
In the News
View All News
Recent Publications
Rethinking racism again: theorizing the racial structure “for real”
Journal Article Ethnic and Racial Studies · January 1, 2026 In this paper I attempt to improve the theorization I advanced in “Rethinking Racism: Towards a Structural Interpretation” (1997) by accounting for what makes the structure work “for real”. To make the structure visible, I do the following three things. Fi ... Full text CiteMechanisms and mechanics of racial hierarchy: focusing on the “How” of racism
Journal Article Ethnic and Racial Studies · January 1, 2026 In recent years, there have been robust efforts to advance conceptualizations of racial hierarchies. This new theoretical and empirical scholarship has generated debate about the why and how of racism. In this special issue, authors are responding to our c ... Full text CiteUS should reject color-blind racial ideology.
Journal Article Science (New York, N.Y.) · July 2025 Full text CiteRecent Grants
The Alliance for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Computing Education-Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (AiiCE-PRF)
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2022 - 2026(I)legitimate Indigenous: Ethnoracial Classification and Deservingness of Affirmative Action Program Beneficiaries in Mexico
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by American Sociological Association · 2025 - 2026JM40321 Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions (1944) - Fellowship
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Cambridge · 2024 - 2025View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
University of Wisconsin, Madison ·
1993
Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin, Madison ·
1987
M.A.
University of Puerto Rico ·
1984
B.A.