Research / Areas of Interest: Political Sociology; Human Rights; Social Movements.
Background
Louis Edgar Esparza is Professor of Sociology at California State University-Los Angeles. He was Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in Democracy, Human Rights and Violence Prevention at the University of Brasília in 2022. His research has appeared in Global Labor Journal, Contemporary Justice Review, Society & Natural Resources, Partecipazione e Conflitto, and elsewhere. Louis is co-author of Human Rights: A Primer (Routledge 2016) and co-editor of Human Rights Of, By, and For the People (Routledge 2017). He served as Co-Chair of the Task Force on Contingent Faculty for the American Sociological Association and is a founding member of the Human Rights section.
Education
- PhD, Stony Brook University, 2010
- BA, Tufts University, 2003.
Current Research
- Human Rights & Civil Society: Funded by the Fulbright Interdisciplinary Network, this project explores civil society organizations in Brazil.
- Declining State Support in Higher Education: This project investigates the social, cultural, and economic effects of declining state support in academia. RA: Darron Cunanan.
- Human Rights Movements in Colombia: This project explores and theorizes high-risk activism in Bogota and Valle del Cauca.
Recent Publications
2023
Esparza, Louis Edgar. accepted. “Occupy Los Angeles: Democracy, Space & Loss at City Hall Park.” Interface.
Esparza, Louis Edgar. forthcoming. Fields of Fire: Emancipation and Resistance in Colombia. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Esparza, Louis Edgar. “Social Justice & Sociological Theory: Césaire, Mills, & de Beauvoir.” Journal of Social Encounters 7(1): 186-207.
Esparza, Louis Edgar. “Social Democratic Capitalism.” Contemporary Sociology 52(2): 154-56.
Esparza, Louis Edgar. “‘Global, Heartless and Without National Identity’: Oligarchy in Today’s World.” Fulbright Chronicles 1(4): 59-61.
2022
Esparza, Louis Edgar. “Contemporary First Amendment Politics.” Contexts 21(3):22-27.
2019
Task Force on Contingent Faculty. “Contingent Faculty Employment in Sociology.” American Sociological Association. Washington, DC.
2018
Atkins, Celeste; Louis Edgar Esparza, Ruth Milkman, and Catherine Moran. “Organizing the Academic Precariat in the United States.” Global Labour Journal 9(1): 76-81.
Esparza, Louis Edgar. “Starving for Justice: Hunger Strikes, Spectacular Speech, and the Struggle for Dignity.” Contemporary Sociology 47(3):292-4.
Courses @ Cal State LA
- SOC 5030: Masters Capstone
- SOC 5021: Contemporary Sociological Theory
- SOC 5020: Classical Sociological Theory
- SOC 4830: Sociology of Human Rights
- SOC 4180: Crowd Behavior & Social Movements
- SOC 4120: Sociological Theory
- SOC 3910: Qualitative Research & Writing in Sociology
Recent Awards
- 2022. Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award, Brazil.
- 2020. American Communities Fellow, CSULA.
ORCID
Social Media
Mastodon