Edwin Amenta
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1989, Sociology
University of California, Irvine
4207 Social Science Plaza B
Mail Code: 5100
Irvine, CA 92697
4207 Social Science Plaza B
Mail Code: 5100
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Political Sociology, Historical and Comparative Sociology, Social Movements, Social Policy, Formal Qualitative Methods, Sport
Websites
Publications
BOOKS
Professor Baseball: Searching for Redemption and the Perfect Lineup on the Softball Diamonds of Central Park (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007).
When Movements Matter: The Townsend Plan and the Rise of Social Security (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006).
Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social Policy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998).
SELECTED ARTICLES
“Softball and the Social Scientist.” Contexts 6 (2007) 2: 38-43.
“The Social Security Debate: Now and Then.” Contexts 5 (2006) 3: 18-22.
Edwin Amenta, Neal Caren, and Sheera Joy Olasky, “Age for Leisure? Political Mediation and the Impact of the Pension Movement on Old-Age Policy.” American Sociological Review 70 (2005): 516-38.
“Political Contexts, Strategies, and Challenger Mobilization: The Impact of the Townsend Plan.” Chapter 2 in Routing the Opposition: Social Movements, Public Policy, and Democracy, edited by Helen Ingram, Valerie Jenness, and David S. Meyer. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
“State-Centered and Political Institutional Theories in Political Sociology: Retrospect and Prospect.” Chapter 4 in the Handbook of Political Sociology, eds. Robert Alford, Alexander Hicks, Thomas Janoski, and Mildred A. Schwartz. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Edwin Amenta and Neal Caren, “The Legislative, Organizational, and Beneficiary Consequences of State-Oriented Challengers.” Chapter 20 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
“What We Know about the Development of Social Policy: Comparative and Historical Research in Comparative and Historical Perspective.” Chapter 3 in Comparative and Historical Analysis, eds. Dietrich Rueschemeyer and James Mahoney. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003: chapter 3.
Edwin Amenta, Neal Caren, Tina Fetner, and Michael P. Young, “Challengers and States: Toward a Political Sociology of Social Movements.” Research in Political Sociology 10 (2002): 47-83.
Edwin Amenta and Drew Halfmann, “Who Voted with Hopkins? Institutional Politics and the WPA.” Journal of Policy History 13 (2001): 251-87.
Francesca Polletta and Edwin Amenta, “Second that Emotion? Lessons from Once-Novel Concepts in Social Movements.” “Conclusion” to Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements, eds. Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, Francesca Polletta. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Edwin Amenta, Chris Bonastia, and Neal Caren, “U.S. Social Policy in Comparative and Historical Perspective: Concepts, Images, Arguments, and Research Strategies.” Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 213-34.
Edwin Amenta and Drew Halfmann, “Wage Wars: Institutional Politics, the WPA, and the Struggle for U.S. Social Policy.” American Sociological Review 65 (2000): 506-28.
Edwin Amenta and Michael P. Young, “Democratic States and Social Movements: Theoretical Arguments and Hypotheses.” Social Problems 57 (1999): 153-68.
Edwin Amenta, Drew Halfmann, and Michael P. Young, “The Strategies and
Contexts of Social Protest: Political Mediation and the Impact of the Townsend Movement in California.” Mobilization 4 (1999): 1-24.
Edwin Amenta and Michael P. Young, “Making an Impact: The Conceptual and Methodological Implications of the Collective Benefits Criterion.” Chapter 2 in How Movements Matter: Theoretical and Comparative Studies on the Consequences of Social Movements, eds., Marco Giugni, Doug McAdam, and Charles Tilly. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
Edwin Amenta, Ellen Benoit, Chris Bonastia, Nancy K. Cauthen, and Drew Halfmann, “Bring Back the WPA: Work, Relief, and the Origins of American Social Policy in Welfare Reform.” Studies in American Political Development 12 (1998): 1-56.
Nancy K. Cauthen and Edwin Amenta, “Not For Widows Only: Institutional Politics and the Formative Years of Aid to Dependent Children.” American Sociological Review 60 (1996): 427-448.
Edwin Amenta and Jane D. Poulsen, “Social Politics in Context: The Institutional Politics Theory and State-Level U.S. Social Spending Policies at the End of the New Deal.” Social Forces 75 (1996): 33-60.
Edwin Amenta and Jane D. Poulsen, “Where to Begin: A Survey of Five Approaches to Selecting Independent Measures For Qualitative Comparative Analysis.” Sociological Methods and Research 23 (1994): 21-52.
Edwin Amenta, Kathleen Dunleavy, and Mary Bernstein, “Stolen Thunder? Huey Long's Share Our Wealth, Political Mediation, and the Second New Deal.” American Sociological Review 59 (1994): 678-702.
“The State of the Art in Welfare State Research on Social Spending Efforts in Capitalist Democracies since 1960.” American Journal of Sociology 99 (1993): 750-63.
Edwin Amenta, Bruce G. Carruthers, and Yvonne Zylan, “A Hero For the Aged? The Townsend Movement, The Political Mediation Model, and U.S. Old-Age Policy, 1934-1950.” American Journal of Sociology 98 (1992): 308-39.
Edwin Amenta and Yvonne Zylan, “It Happened Here: Political Opportunity, the New Institutionalism, and the Townsend Movement.” American Sociological Review 56 (1991): 250-65.
“Making the Most of a Case Study: Theories of the Welfare State and the American Experience.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 32 (1991): 172-94.
Edwin Amenta and Sunita Parikh, “Capitalists Did Not Want the Social Security Act: A Critique of the 'Capitalist Dominance' Thesis.” American Sociological Review 56 (1991): 124-9.
Edwin Amenta and Bruce G. Carruthers, “The Formative Years of U.S. Social Spending: Theories of the Welfare State and the American States During the Great Depression.” American Sociological Review 53 (1988): 661-78.
Professor Baseball: Searching for Redemption and the Perfect Lineup on the Softball Diamonds of Central Park (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007).
When Movements Matter: The Townsend Plan and the Rise of Social Security (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006).
Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social Policy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998).
SELECTED ARTICLES
“Softball and the Social Scientist.” Contexts 6 (2007) 2: 38-43.
“The Social Security Debate: Now and Then.” Contexts 5 (2006) 3: 18-22.
Edwin Amenta, Neal Caren, and Sheera Joy Olasky, “Age for Leisure? Political Mediation and the Impact of the Pension Movement on Old-Age Policy.” American Sociological Review 70 (2005): 516-38.
“Political Contexts, Strategies, and Challenger Mobilization: The Impact of the Townsend Plan.” Chapter 2 in Routing the Opposition: Social Movements, Public Policy, and Democracy, edited by Helen Ingram, Valerie Jenness, and David S. Meyer. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
“State-Centered and Political Institutional Theories in Political Sociology: Retrospect and Prospect.” Chapter 4 in the Handbook of Political Sociology, eds. Robert Alford, Alexander Hicks, Thomas Janoski, and Mildred A. Schwartz. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Edwin Amenta and Neal Caren, “The Legislative, Organizational, and Beneficiary Consequences of State-Oriented Challengers.” Chapter 20 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
“What We Know about the Development of Social Policy: Comparative and Historical Research in Comparative and Historical Perspective.” Chapter 3 in Comparative and Historical Analysis, eds. Dietrich Rueschemeyer and James Mahoney. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003: chapter 3.
Edwin Amenta, Neal Caren, Tina Fetner, and Michael P. Young, “Challengers and States: Toward a Political Sociology of Social Movements.” Research in Political Sociology 10 (2002): 47-83.
Edwin Amenta and Drew Halfmann, “Who Voted with Hopkins? Institutional Politics and the WPA.” Journal of Policy History 13 (2001): 251-87.
Francesca Polletta and Edwin Amenta, “Second that Emotion? Lessons from Once-Novel Concepts in Social Movements.” “Conclusion” to Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements, eds. Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, Francesca Polletta. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Edwin Amenta, Chris Bonastia, and Neal Caren, “U.S. Social Policy in Comparative and Historical Perspective: Concepts, Images, Arguments, and Research Strategies.” Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 213-34.
Edwin Amenta and Drew Halfmann, “Wage Wars: Institutional Politics, the WPA, and the Struggle for U.S. Social Policy.” American Sociological Review 65 (2000): 506-28.
Edwin Amenta and Michael P. Young, “Democratic States and Social Movements: Theoretical Arguments and Hypotheses.” Social Problems 57 (1999): 153-68.
Edwin Amenta, Drew Halfmann, and Michael P. Young, “The Strategies and
Contexts of Social Protest: Political Mediation and the Impact of the Townsend Movement in California.” Mobilization 4 (1999): 1-24.
Edwin Amenta and Michael P. Young, “Making an Impact: The Conceptual and Methodological Implications of the Collective Benefits Criterion.” Chapter 2 in How Movements Matter: Theoretical and Comparative Studies on the Consequences of Social Movements, eds., Marco Giugni, Doug McAdam, and Charles Tilly. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
Edwin Amenta, Ellen Benoit, Chris Bonastia, Nancy K. Cauthen, and Drew Halfmann, “Bring Back the WPA: Work, Relief, and the Origins of American Social Policy in Welfare Reform.” Studies in American Political Development 12 (1998): 1-56.
Nancy K. Cauthen and Edwin Amenta, “Not For Widows Only: Institutional Politics and the Formative Years of Aid to Dependent Children.” American Sociological Review 60 (1996): 427-448.
Edwin Amenta and Jane D. Poulsen, “Social Politics in Context: The Institutional Politics Theory and State-Level U.S. Social Spending Policies at the End of the New Deal.” Social Forces 75 (1996): 33-60.
Edwin Amenta and Jane D. Poulsen, “Where to Begin: A Survey of Five Approaches to Selecting Independent Measures For Qualitative Comparative Analysis.” Sociological Methods and Research 23 (1994): 21-52.
Edwin Amenta, Kathleen Dunleavy, and Mary Bernstein, “Stolen Thunder? Huey Long's Share Our Wealth, Political Mediation, and the Second New Deal.” American Sociological Review 59 (1994): 678-702.
“The State of the Art in Welfare State Research on Social Spending Efforts in Capitalist Democracies since 1960.” American Journal of Sociology 99 (1993): 750-63.
Edwin Amenta, Bruce G. Carruthers, and Yvonne Zylan, “A Hero For the Aged? The Townsend Movement, The Political Mediation Model, and U.S. Old-Age Policy, 1934-1950.” American Journal of Sociology 98 (1992): 308-39.
Edwin Amenta and Yvonne Zylan, “It Happened Here: Political Opportunity, the New Institutionalism, and the Townsend Movement.” American Sociological Review 56 (1991): 250-65.
“Making the Most of a Case Study: Theories of the Welfare State and the American Experience.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 32 (1991): 172-94.
Edwin Amenta and Sunita Parikh, “Capitalists Did Not Want the Social Security Act: A Critique of the 'Capitalist Dominance' Thesis.” American Sociological Review 56 (1991): 124-9.
Edwin Amenta and Bruce G. Carruthers, “The Formative Years of U.S. Social Spending: Theories of the Welfare State and the American States During the Great Depression.” American Sociological Review 53 (1988): 661-78.
Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=5285
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=5285
Last updated
12/06/2007
12/06/2007