Josh Pacewicz

Josh Pacewicz is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at Brown University. His research examines the root causes of contemporary political problems like the breakdown of traditional party politics, failures of urban governance, and political polarization across American states. It has been recognized by numerous professional societies for advances in social theory, historical scholarship, and the study of urban politics and policy.

His first book, entitled Partisans and Partners: the Politics of the Post-Keynesian Society, is a street-level account of politics in two small Rust Belt cities. It shows how broader changes in American political economy hollowed out community institutions that once connected people to party politics. This creates a crisis of political recognition among voters, which promoted both apathy and various outside the beltway political claims during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles—a harbinger of the 2016 election.

Professor Pacewicz is currently writing a new book about state politics, entitled Architects of the Divided States. The book draws on interviews with the advocates, lobbyists, bureaucrats, and legislators who create a diverging landscape of public health, social services, and civil rights in red and blue America.

Photo Credit: Shane Martin