Robert "Bob" Blauner (May 18, 1929 – October 20, 2016) was an American sociologist, college professor and author. He introduced the

theory of internal colonialism Internal colonialism is the uneven effects of economic development on a regional basis, otherwise known as "uneven development" as a result of the exploitation of minority groups within a wider society which leads to political and economic inequalit ...

Biography

He was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Bob spent his high school years at Sullivan High School in Chicago. He was the editor of the school paper, the Sentinel. He was also the valedictorian of his high school class. He was interested in sports and was an avid tennis player. He friends in high school included LeRoy Wollins who went on to be active in Veteran's for Peace and earned his living importing Russian language materials. Another friend was Charles Garvin who taught social work at the University of Michigan and Daniel Joseph who was a distinguished professor at the University of Minnesota. Blauner's sociological writings and teachings on class, race and men are rooted in his years as a factory worker. He took that employment after his return from France where he lived during the so-called McCarthy period. His formal studies led to a B.A. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1948, followed by an M.A. in 1950; he earned his Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in 1962. His dissertation at Berkeley, which later became his first book ''Alienation and Freedom'' was supervised by William Kornhauser,

Seymour Martin Lipset Seymour Martin Lipset ( ; March 18, 1922 – December 31, 2006) was an American sociologist and political scientist (President of the American Political Science Association). His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union o ...

, and

Philip Selznick Philip Selznick (January 8, 1919 – June 12, 2010) was professor of sociology and law at the University of California, Berkeley. A noted author in organizational theory, sociology of law and public administration, Selznick's work was groundbreakin ...

. His master's thesis was on the sociological significance of first names. He began teaching at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

, the University of Chicago and from 1963 on he taught at Berkeley. His first wife was his high school classmate Virginia Bauer. He had a sister Sonia. His mother was a librarian and his father a lawyer. His wife at time of his death was Karina Epperlein who was a noted maker of documentary films, often portraying oppressed people such as incarcerated mothers. The well-known "Blauner Hypothesis" states that minority groups created by colonization, because it is forced on them, experience a greater degree of racism and discrimination than those created by voluntary immigration. In his studies, Blauner contrasts the assimilation experiences of Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican-Americans. His work was funded by major groups such as the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the

Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a he ...

. He died in

North Berkeley, Berkeley, California North Berkeley is a neighborhood of Berkeley, California. It is situated north of downtown, spanning from Hearst Avenue to Eunice Street, and touches the northwest corner of the UC Berkeley campus. North Berkeley's primary business district is kno ...

on October 20, 2016 at the age 87.

Bibliography

* ''Alienation and Freedom: The Factory Worker and His Industry'' (1964). * ''Racial Oppression in America'' (1972). * ''Black Lives, White Lives: Three Decades of Race Relations in America'' (1989). * ''Our Mothers' Spirits: Great Writers on the Death of Mothers and the Grief of Men'', editor (1997). * ''Resisting McCarthyism: To Sign or Not to Sign California’s Loyalty Oath'' (2009). * ''Colonized and Immigrant Minorities''

Sources

* "Robert Blauner." World of Sociology. Gale Group, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blauner, Bob 1929 births 2016 deaths American sociologists University of Chicago alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty American non-fiction writers

Biography

Bibliography

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