Joseph Gerteis
Associate Professor
Ph.D. 1999, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Room 1125 Social Sciences
tel.: 612-624-1615
email: gerte004@umn.edu
Interest Areas
Historical Sociology; Politics and Social Movements; Social Theory; Social Class and Race.
Current Research
I am interested in the dynamics of difference and solidarity and how these play into the formation of group boundaries, interests, and identities. My recent work has involved a book on interracial labor movements of the late 19th century. I am currently working on papers from the American Mosaic Project with Douglas Hartmann and Penny Edgell. This project explores how Americans think about issues of diversity and solidarity in modern America through the lenses of race and religion. Right now, I am exploring how Americans think about both the benefits and costs of diversity, as well as how and when whites claim racial and ethnic identities.
Recent Publications
Class and the Color Line: Interracial Class Coalition in the Knights of Labor and the Populist Movement. 2007. Durham, NC: Duke University Press
Classical Sociological Theory and Contemporary Sociological Theory, edited with Craig Calhoun, James Moody, Steven Pfaff, and Indermohan Virk. 2007 Malden, MA: Blackwell, (2nd eds.)
“Atheists as ‘Other’: Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society,” with Penny Edgell and Douglas Hartmann. 2006. American Sociological Review 71(2): 211-234.
“Dealing with Diversity: Mapping Multiculturalism in Sociological Terms,” with Douglas Hartmann. 2005. Sociological Theory, 23(2): 218-240.
“Nationalism in America? The Case of the Populist Movement,” with Alyssa Goolsby. 2005. Theory & Society, 34(2): 197-225.
“The Possession of Civic Virtue: Movement Narratives of Race and Class in the Knights of Labor.” 2003. American Journal of Sociology, 108(3): 580-615.
“Populism, Race, and Political Interest in Virginia.” 2003. Social Science History, 27(2): 197-227.