Susan Olzak

Susan Olzak is Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, where she does research on racial and ethnic conflict, collective action, and social movement organizations. Her current research projects include (1) a combined state, national, and international-level project (funded by the Sociology Program at NSF and by the UPS Endowment Fund) analyzing the impact of environmental advocacy group activity on pro-environmental legislation in the U.S. Congress and in the California State Legislature (with Sarah A. Soule); (2) an ongoing NSF project on social movements, in collaboration with Doug McAdam, John McCarthy and Sarah A. Soule, analyzing all forms of social protest in the United States, 1960-1995, (3) continuing research on the impact of economic, cultural, and political globalization on ethnic protest and violence in the contemporary period, and (4) examination of temporal and spatial factors influencing the fate of organizations within a variety of social movement industries.

Check out this 40-second video to learn how Thom Scher, '10, found a mentor in Professor Susan Olzak and see the groundbreaking research he is participating in today.

Curriculum Vitæ

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RESEARCH AREAS

Collective Action and Social Movement; Race and Ethnic Relations; Political Sociology

 

PUBLICATIONS

Recent Books:

  • Olzak, Susan. 2006. The Global Dynamics of Race and Ethnic Mobilization. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Olzak, Susan. 1992. The Dynamics of Ethnic Competition and Conflict. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Olzak, Susan and Joane Nagel (eds.) 1986.Competitive Ethnic Relations. Orlando FL: Academic Press.

Recent Papers:

  • 2008. “Organizational Innovation: Establishing Racial, Ethnic, and Women's Studies Programs in the U.S.” (with Nicole Kangas). Sociology of Education 8: 163-188.
  • 2007. “Organizational Diversity, Vitality and Outcomes in the African American Civil Rights Movement.”  (with Emily Ryo). Social Forces 85: 1561-1592.
  • " Ethnic and Nationalist Movements." pp. 666-93 in David Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi (eds.) The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (2004).
  • "When Do Social Movements Matter? The Politics of Contingency and the Equal Rights Amendment, 1972--1982." (with Sarah Soule). American Sociological Review (August 2004) 69: 473-497.
  • "Discursive Opportunities and the Evolution of Right-Wing Violence in Germany.'' (with Ruud Koopmans). American Journal of Sociology (July 2004) 110: 198-230.
  • "Racial Policy and Racial Conflict in the Urban United States, 1869-1924.'" (with Suzanne Shanahan) Social Forces (December 2003) 82: 481-517.
  • "The Impact of State Reforms on Anti-Apartheid Protest in South Africa.'' (with Maya Beasley and Johan L. Olivier) Mobilization (February 2003) 8: 26-50.
  • "Immigration and Conflict in the United States" (with Suzanne Shanahan). Chapter 3 (pp. 99-134) in Pyong Gap Min (ed.) Migration to the United States: Classical and Contemporary Periods. Walnut Creek CA: Alta Mira Press (2002).
  • "The Ecology of Tactical Overlap in New Social Movements in West Germany." (with S. C. Noah Uhrig). American Sociological Review (October 2001) 66: 694-718.
  • "Ethnic and Racial Social Movements." pp.4796-4799 in N. J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes (editors). International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Oxford: Elsevier Press (2001).

 

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