Monica Prasad is an American sociologist, and has won several awards for her books on economic and political sociology. Prasad is Professor of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and a 2015

Guggenheim fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

. Her research interests are in the areas of

economic sociology Economic sociology is the study of the social cause and effect of various economic phenomena. The field can be broadly divided into a classical period and a contemporary one, known as "new economic sociology". The classical period was concerned ...

political sociology Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...

and comparative historical sociology. her research investigated market-oriented welfare policies in Europe and their economic consequences.

Education

She studied for her PhD at the University of Chicago. She was awarded a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Early Career Development Grant, and in 2011 received a

Fulbright grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study at Sciences Po in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Career

In 2010, Prasad was a committee member for the Theory Prize, awarded by the Theory Section of the American Sociological Association for outstanding books and papers in the work of theory. In 2015, she was selected as one of 173 Guggenheim fellows, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation-sponsored scholarship. She is the author of several academic works. In her 2009 book ''The Politics of Free Markets: The Rise of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States'' (University of Chicago Press) she argues that countries' different political climates and policy regimes resulted in divergent types of

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

. Her 2013 book ''The Land of Too Much: American Abundance and the Paradox of Poverty'' (Harvard University Press)'','' examines why the United States has significantly higher levels of poverty and inequality than other rich countries and the impact of government intervention on undermining the welfare state. Her latest book, ''Starving the Beast: Ronald Reagan and the Tax Cut Revolution'' (Russell Sage Foundation Press), was published in 2018. She is a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center.

Awards

She has twice won the Barrington Moore Book Award from the Comparative and Historical Sociology section of the American Sociological Association, first in 2007 for her book ''The Politics of Free Markets: The Rise of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States'', and again in 2013 for ''The Land of Too Much: American Abundance and the Paradox of Poverty'', as a co-winner with

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...

. In 2014 she was awarded the American Sociological Association Distinguished Scholarly Book Award for ''The Land of Too Much: American Abundance and the Paradox of Poverty''. This award celebrates the best book published by an ASA member in the preceding two years.

References

External links

''How to Think About Taxing and Spending Like a Swede'' article in The New York Times (2019)''Land of Plenty (of Government)'' article in The New York Times (2013)Is Neoliberalism Over? - an interview with Monica Prasad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Monica Northwestern University faculty University of Chicago alumni American women sociologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American sociologists 21st-century American women