Jeffrey Roger Goodwin (born January 28, 1958) is a professor of sociology at New York University. He has served as chair of several sections of the American Sociological Association (ASA) and was coeditor of the ASA journal Contexts from 2004 to 2007. He has written about social movements, political violence, and revolutions and is known for his book No Other Way Out: States and Revolutionary Movements, 1945-1991. He has also written about W. E. B. Du Bois and the black radical tradition, including Black Marxism.

Early life and education

Goodwin was born in Hollywood, Florida, and grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. His parents were public school teachers in Broward County. He graduated from Nova High School in Davie, Florida, in 1976. Goodwin attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Social studies in 1980, and later obtained a Master of Arts (MA) and, in November 1988, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Sociology. His graduate-school cohort included Michael Macy, Ellen Immergut, and Calvin Morrill. Theda Skocpol chaired his dissertation committee.

Career

Following his doctoral studies, Goodwin began his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Sociology at Northwestern University from 1989 to 1991. Goodwin then moved to New York University (NYU) in 1991, serving as an Assistant Professor of Sociology until 1997. He progressed to the rank of Associate Professor of Sociology until 2003, when he was promoted to full Professor of Sociology, a position he has held since. In 2009, Goodwin served as a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. Throughout his academic career, Goodwin has been actively involved in various academic organizations, holding elective offices such as executive board member positions in the International Sociological Association and the Eastern Sociological Society as well as in the ASA. Goodwin has been elected chair of four sections of the ASA, namely, the Comparative and Historical Sociology section, the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section, the Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section, and the Section on Marxist Sociology.

Research

Goodwin has written and edited a number of works with his friend and former NYU colleague James M. Jasper. They wrote a famous critique of the political-opportunity theory developed by Charles Tilly and Doug McAdam, republished in Rethinking Social Movements, which Goodwin and Jasper edited. They also edited The Contexts Reader (New York: W. W. Norton), Social Movements (Routledge), The Social Movements Reader (Wiley-Blackwell), and (with Francesca Polletta) Passionate Politics (University of Chicago Press), a leading work in the sociology of emotions. Goodwin has also written a series of papers on revolutions and terrorism, respectively.

Advocacy

Goodwin has long been a critic of U.S. support for governments and other actors engaged in gross human rights abuses, from apartheid South Africa to Central America to Israel. In October 2011, Goodwin was one of 132 New York University (NYU) faculty and staff members who signed a statement calling for disinvestment in several American companies that do business in Israel. In response to sharp criticism from Congressman Gary Ackerman, Goodwin accused Ackerman of moral blindness and stated that "Ackerman's apparent denial that Israel is occupying Palestinian territories and systematically violating basic Palestinian rights is simply shocking." Goodwin is a long-time member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Awards and recognition

Select publications

Books and edited volumes

Articles