Joe Soss

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Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Room 261
7451A
301 19th Avenue South

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Joe Soss is the inaugural Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota, where he holds faculty positions in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, the Department of Political Science, and the Department of Sociology. His research and teaching explore the interplay of democratic politics, socio-economic inequalities, and public policy. He is particularly interested in the political sources and consequences of policies that govern social marginality and shape life conditions for socially marginal groups. Joe Soss is the author of Unwanted Claims: The Politics of Participation in the U.S. Welfare System (2000), co-editor of Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform (2003), co-editor of Remaking America: Democracy and Public Policy in an Age of Inequality (2007), and author or co-author of numerous scholarly articles. He is currently completing work on a co-authored book to be published by University of Chicago Press, Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race. In 2010, he received the campus-wide Outstanding Faculty Award from the University of Minnesota’s Council of Graduate Students (COGS).

Educational Background & Specialties

Educational Background

Ph.D. Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996. : .
M.A. Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1991. : .
B.A. Government, University of Texas-Austin, 1989 : .

Curriculum Vitae

Specialties

welfare reform
public service
organization and governance of social policy
politics of inequality and poverty
role of race, class and gender in public affairs

Publications

“Race and the Local Politics of Punishment in the New World of Welfare.“ with Richard Fording and Sanford F. Schram. Forthcoming 2011. American Journal of Sociology.
“The Organization of Discipline: From Performance Management to Perversity and Punishment.“ with Richard C. Fording and Sanford F. Schram. Forthcoming 2011. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.
“Neoliberal Paternalism: Race and the New Poverty Governance.“ with Sanford F. Schram and Richard C. Fording in Moon-Kie Jung, Joí£o Costa Vargas and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, eds. Forthcoming. State of White Supremacy: Racism, Governance, and the United States. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
“The Politics of Inequality in America: A Political Economy Framework.“ With Lawrence R. Jacobs. 2010. Annual Review of Political Science.13: 341-64.
“The Third Level of U.S. Welfare Reform: Governmentality under Neoliberal Paternalism.“ With Sanford F. Schram, Linda Houser, and Richard C. Fording. 2010. Citizenship Studies. 14(6): 739-54.
“From Policy to Polity: Democracy, Paternalism and the Incorporation of Disadvantaged Citizens.“ With Sarah K. Bruch and Myra Marx Ferree. 2010. American Sociological Review. 75(2): 205-26.
“From Policy to Polity: Democracy, Paternalism and the Incorporation of Disadvantaged Citizens.“ With Sarah K. Bruch and Myra Marx Ferree. 2010. American Sociological Review. 75(2): 205-26.
“Deciding to Discipline: Race, Choice, and Punishment at the Frontlines of Welfare Reform.“ with Sanford F. Schram, Richard C. Fording, and Linda Houser. 2009. American Sociological Review. 74(3): 398-422.
“Public Responses to Health Disparities: How Group Cues Influence Support for Government Intervention.“ with Elizabeth Rigby, Bridget Booske, Angela Kempf, and Stephanie Robert. 2009. Social Science Quarterly. 90(5): 1321-40.
“The Place of Inequality: Non-participation in the American Polity.“ with Lawrence R. Jacobs. 2009. Political Science Quarterly. 124(1): 95-125
“The Color of Devolution: Race, Federalism, and the Politics of Social Control.“ with Richard C. Fording and Sanford F. Schram. 2008. American Journal of Political Science. 52(3): 536-53. Online Appendix
“Neoliberal Poverty Governance: Race, Place and the Punitive Turn in U.S. Welfare Policy.“with Sanford F. Schram, Richard C. Fording. 2008. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. 1(1): 17-36.
“Coloring the Terms of Membership: Reinventing the Divided Citizenry in an Era of Neoliberal Paternalism.“ with Sanford F. Schram in D. Harris and A.C. Lin, eds. 2008. The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. Pp.293-322.
“Devolution, Discretion, and the Effect of Local Political Values on TANF Sanctioning.“ with Richard C. Fording and Sanford F. Schram. 2007. Social Service Review. 81(2): 285-316.
Remaking America: Democracy and Public Policy in an Age of Inequality. Co-edited with Jacob S. Hacker, and Suzanne Mettler. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. (2007)
“A Public Transformed? Welfare Reform as Policy Feedback.“ with Sanford F. Schram. 2007. American Political Science Review. 101(1): 111-27.Supplemental Materials
“The Illusion of Technique: How Method-Driven Research Leads Welfare Scholarship Astray.“ with Meghan Condon, Matthew Holleque, and Amber Wichowsky. 2006. Social Science Quarterly. 87(4): 798-807.
“The Political Roots of Disability Claims: How State Environments and Policies Shape Citizen Demands.“ with Lael Keiser. 2006. Political Research Quarterly. 59(1): 133-48.
“Talking Our Way to Meaningful Explanations: A Practice-Centered Approach to In-Depth Interviews for Interpretive Research.“ In D. Yanow and P. Schwartz-Shea, eds. 2006. Interpretation and Method. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Pp.127-49.
“Making Clients and Citizens: Welfare Policy as a Source of Status, Belief, and Action.“ In A. Schneider and H. Ingram, eds. 2005. Deserving and Entitled: Social Constructions and Public Policy. State University of New York Press. pp.291-328.
“The Consequences of Public Policy for Democratic Citizenship: Bridging Policy Studies and Mass Politics.“ with Suzanne Mettler. 2004. Perspectives on Politics. 2(1): 1-19.
“Contemporary Public Opinion: Poverty and Welfare.“ with Erin O’Brien. In Gwendolyn Mink and Alice O’Connor, eds. 2004. Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform. Co-edited with Sanford Schram and Richard Fording. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press (2003).
“ Why Do White Americans Support the Death Penalty?“ with Laura Langbein and Alan Metelko. 2003. Journal of Politics. 65(2): 397-421.
“Setting the Terms of Relief: Explaining State Policy Choices in the Devolution Revolution.“ with Sanford F. Schram, Thomas Vartanian, and Erin O’Brien. 2001. American Journal of Political Science. 45(2): 378-95.
“Success Stories: Welfare Reform, Policy Discourse, and the Politics of Research.“ with Sanford F. Schram. 2001. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 557(September): 49-65.
Unwanted Claims: The Politics of Participation in the U.S. Welfare System. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press (2000, paperback 2002).

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