Alex V Barnard

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Alex V Barnard

Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests
Medical Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Policy, Mental Health, Comparative Sociology, Social Theory, Ethnography

I am a comparative political and medical sociologist, interested in explaining the different institutional design of mental health care systems and how they shape the trajectories of people with severe mental disorders in France and the United States. My comparison draws on ethnographic observations of decision-making in public clinics, disability offices, and courtrooms, in-depth interviews, and archival sources. Two papers under review and a paper forthcoming in the French journal Participations are available on request.

I have previously studied radical environmental movements around waste; my book Freegans: Diving into the Wealth of Food Waste in America is available from the University of Minnesota Press. Portions of this research have also been published in The American Journal of Sociology and Ethnography.

PhD Date:
Dissertation Title
Ordering the Disordered: State Classifications of Mental Illness in France and the United States
Dissertation Committee
Marion Fourcade (Chair), Neil Fligstein, Armando Lara-Millán, Thomas Laqueur (History)