John Asimakopoulos (born September 10, 1970) is an American sociologist and author. He is a 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 and ...

at the Bronx Community College of the City University of New York. Asimakopoulos co-founded the Transformative Studies Institute.

Early life and education

Asimakopoulos attended high school in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

, Greece. He returned to the United States and received a bachelor's degree in

and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

in 1992. He remained at Rutgers for his master's degrees, receiving an MA in economics in 1993 and an MA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

in 1994. He went on for a PhD in the sociology program at the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...

, which he completed in 2000. His doctoral advisor was

Paul Attewell Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, and his thesis title was ''Comparative Analysis of European and American Working Class Attainments''.

Career

After teaching as an adjunct professor at New Jersey and New York area universities, in 2004 he began as an assistant professor of social sciences at the Bronx Community College. He came to public attention in 2006, when the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pr ...

refused to renew his contract on the grounds of "lack of collegiality". Asimakopoulos alleged this was a political firing because of his outspoken libertarian socialist ideology. Asimakopoulos filed for arbitration, which he won in 2008, and returned to his position. Asimakopoulos describes himself as a "Scholar-Activist" and "Organic Intellectual".

Transformative Studies Institute

In 2007, Asimakopoulos co-founded the Transformative Studies Institute (TSI) together with Ali Zaid. Both Asimakopoulos and Zaid were at the time facing non-renewal of their contracts from Bronx Community College (Asimakopoulos later was reinstated under arbitration). Asimakopoulos has said that he founded TSI as a reaction to this experience. Asimakopoulos serves as executive director of this section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. TSI publishes the interdisciplinary journal ''Theory in Action'', founded by Asimakopoulos in 2008. It also publishes the ''Journal of Social Justice'', founded in 2011. Asimakopoulos is editor-in-chief of both journals. There is a TSI YouTube channel which hosts the video series "Crushing Capitalism with Dr. Asimakopoulos". TSI states that its mission is to found an interdisciplinary graduate school focused on social problems and social justice.

Books

* Asimakopoulos, John. (2011). ''Revolt! The Next Great Transformation from Kleptocracy Capitalism to Libertarian Socialism through Counter Ideology, Societal Education, & Direct Action'' *Shannon, Deric, Nocella, Anthony J. and Asimakopoulos, John. (Eds.). (2012). ''The Accumulation of Freedom: Writings on Anarchist Economics'' *Asimakopoulos, John. (Reprint edition, 2016). ''Social Structures of Direct Democracy: On the Political Economy of Equality'' *Asimakopoulos, John and Richard Gilman-Opalsky (Eds.). 2018. ''Against Capital in the Twenty-First Century: A Reader of Radical Undercurrents''Review of ''Against Capital in the Twenty-First Century'': * *Asimakopoulos, John. 2019. ''The Political Economy of the Spectacle and Postmodern Caste'' (Studies in Critical Social Sciences)

References

External links

About Dr. Asimakopoulos

Interview with Sociologists Without Borders

Jeff Farias Interviews Dr. John Asimakopoulos (April 28, 2009)

Jeff Farias Interviews Dr. John Asimakopoulos (March 3, 2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asimakopoulos, John 1970 births Living people American activists American educational theorists American people of Greek descent Critical pedagogy Bronx Community College faculty Marxist humanists Marxist theorists Rutgers University alumni Graduate Center, CUNY alumni