I earned a PhD in sociology at Johns Hopkins University, where I had the very good fortune to study with two young professors who were early proponents of Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-system perspective on the development of capitalism. In that perspective, I found the potential to connect my love of intellectual challenges with my desire to bring more justice to the world, and I became deeply interested in workforce trends and the creation of work and income opportunities in society.
I also write papers on Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems analytic perspective and post them to ResearchGate. Click here to visit my ResearchGate profile page.
I opted out of a traditional academic career. Over the years since graduate school I combined working with human service organizations and teaching sociology courses part-time at community colleges. I have managed a homeless shelter; taught computer classes, academic courses, and job readiness skills to people in welfare-to-work programs; worked for a community development credit union in a low-income community; and provided Medicare and Medicaid counseling to low-income seniors. I did a four year stint (the last two working on workforce development issues) as a research associate with a Michigan organization engaged in policy analysis and advocacy on behalf of low-income families.
Having partially retired, I now have the time to develop and present a perspective on U.S. labor force trends and employment issues that I have been informally working on for twenty-five years. I also have time to pursue my interest in the theory and methods of historical sociology.
Education
PhD, Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
My graduate studies included courses in research methods, statistics (including econometrics), and two economics courses, in addition to topical sociology courses. My dissertation work included extensive research into the economic and political history of the U.S. in the first half of the 19th century.
BA, Sociology, University of Central Florida
Relevant Publications and Papers
Working papers on Immanuel Wallerstein’s World-Systems Analytic Theory. These are unpublished papers posted on ResearchGate since July 2018. They are in PDF format and can be easily downloaded.
Doing World-Systems Research: A Guide for Social Science Graduate Students, Posted September 2024.
Reconsidering Conflict over Slavery as a Cause of the North American War of 1861, Posted September 2023.
Using World-Systems Analytic Theory to Explain the Demise of Atlantic Slavery during the 18th and 19th Century Expansion of the Modern World-Economy, Posted December 2022.
STATES, CAPITALIST COMPETITION, AND THE MOVEMENT TO CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES, Ph.D. Thesis, Posted April 2022.
A Forensic Role for Energy Dynamics Analysis in World-Systems Research, Posted December 2021
Cohesion and Governance in a World-Economy, Posted October 2020.
Using Wallerstein’s Analytic Theory for a New Investigation of the Origins of Modern Capitalism, Posted May 2020.
Wallerstein and Others on the Origins of Modern Capitalism: An Assessment of Explanatory Authority Differences, Posted February 2020.
A Way Forward for World-Systems Analysis by Developing its Systems Theory Elements, Posted July 2019.
Specifying Empirical Units of Analysis in World- Systems Research: A Research Note, Posted April 2019.
Incorporating Nature into the World-Systems Research Architecture, Posted January 2019.
Societal Change Agency in the World-Systems Research Architecture, Posted November 2018.
Wallerstein’s Division of Labor Concept and Crises of the Modern World-System, Posted September 2018.
Research Architecture of the World-Systems Perspective: A Working Paper, Posted July 2018.
Other Publications:
Replacing the Concept of Externalities to Analyze Constraints on Global Economic Growth and Move Toward a New Economic Paradigm, Cadmus, October 19, 2014.
Lead writer, Working for a Living in Michigan: State Workforce Policies and Low-Income Workers, report published by the Michigan League for Human Services, May 2003.
Contributing writer, Out of Date and Out of Reach: Michigan’s Unemployment System Needs Repair, report published by the National Employment Law Project and the Michigan League for Human Services, March 2002.
With Bill Harvey, a series of 6 articles on labor issues, The Baltimore Chronicle, Baltimore City, September 1989 – April 1990.
With Michael Timberlake, “Structure of the Labor Force in the World System,” in Michael Timber (Ed.), Urbanization in the World Economy. New York: Academic Press, 1985.
“Political Regionalism and Struggles for State Hegemony,” in Richard B. Rubinson (Ed.), Dynamics of World Development. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1981.
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