I just spent a year in Nanjing, PRC, where I taught English at a public high school. Interested in comparative political sociology and theories of organizations. Past work has dealt with social movements, transitions to democracy and patterns of participation in Southern Europe. Dissertation adresses the interaction between nonprofit organizations and the state in the field of welfare in Greece. The dissertation committee consists of Juan Linz, Debra Minkoff, and Steven Andrews.
Major interest is in political sociology with an area specialization in China.
A paper I am currently working on is about the effects of social origins on status attainment in contemporary urban China. I have just embarked on a painful process of searching for a dissertation topic, which, I hope, will deal with issues of civil society, social trust, state autonomy, and prospects of democratization.