Join the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics as we host Monica Prasad, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Economic and Political Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Monica will present, “Solving the Biggest Problems: Problem-Solving Sociology and American Populism.”

Abstract: “Recently several groups of scholars have independently argued that sociology should attempt to solve problems, from the community around “problem-solving sociology,” to “solution oriented sociology,” to scholars arguing that sociologists should attempt to solve inequality, to the “positive turn” in economic sociology. But many of the biggest problems that sociologists examine cannot be solved in the course of a scholarly career. This talk discusses the sociology of knowledge questions raised by trying to solve the biggest problems, and then tries to solve one of the biggest problems: American populism and its protectionist turn, which is unusual in comparative perspective. I show that even when problems cannot be solved, trying to solve them is worthwhile for the insights it generates.”

Monica Prasad’s areas of interest are economic sociology, comparative historical sociology, and political sociology. Her books The Politics of Free Markets, The Land of Too Much, and Starving the Beast examine American political economy in comparative perspective, and argue that progressive policies are most effective when they are embedded in a broader political economy that is favorable to business interests.