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Welcome to Berkeley Sociology

Berkeley’s Sociology Department is known around the world for its excellence in research and teaching. Our faculty advance cutting edge research and teach in most sociological specialities. Our PhDs are leaders in universities and research centers across the US and in many other countries. And our BAs populate the ranks of innumerable professions, bringing with them the skills and special perspective of Berkeley sociology. 

We are proud to make these contributions from the world’s leading public university. At Berkeley, we combine intellectual rigor with a commitment to public service through our research, teaching, and service on campus and beyond. 

For the past six decades, Berkeley’s Sociology Department has consistently been ranked among the world’s top sociology departments. Our graduate program is ranked #1 in the latest U.S. News and World Report, and our undergrad degree is currently the best in the US according to College Factual and features on Grad Reports’ Best College List 2020.

Ann Swidler
Professor of the Graduate School
Culture, religion, theory, institutionalization, social ecologies of religion in Africa; chieftaincy, congregational religion and capacities for collective action
Cihan Tugal
Professor
Political sociology; Social theory; Religion; Capitalism and development; Social movements; Islam and the Middle East; Comparative and historical sociology; Ethnography
Armando Lara-Millan
Associate Professor
Economy & Society, Law, Medicine, Historical Sociology, Ethnography
In Memoriam
Albert Einstein (1941)
Albert Einstein (1941)
EMERITUS PROFESSOR

Prof. Einstein served graduate students as a model of prudence in remaining unfashionably true to the grand…

While attention has been focused on high-level struggles over control of giant enterprises in China and the former Soviet bloc, a remarkable but underreported revolution has been occurr...

The New Entrepreneurs of Europe and Asia: Patterns of Business Development in Russia, Eastern Europe, and China

While attention has been focused on high-level struggles over control of giant enterprises in China and the former Soviet bloc, a remarkable but underreported revolution has been occurring at the ground level. This volume examines the profiles of entrepreneurs and the patterns of business development in the transitioning countries. Bringing together the perspectives of all the social science disciplines, from economics and political science to sociology and anthropology, the contributors identify the criteria for survival and success of independent ...

Departmental Colloquium Series

Austin H. Vo "Translocal Leverage and Challenges to Empire in French Indochina and French West Africa"

Monday, November 9, 2026 - 2:00 pm - Monday, November 9, 2026 - 3:30 pm
Blumer Room - 402 Social Sciences Building
Abstract: Why did political elites contest colonialism through a revolutionary path in Vietnam compared to an accommodationist one in Senegal? Drawing on original archival research in Vietnam, Senegal, and France, I examine how global economic shifts granted local economic intermediaries leverage as brokers between society, market, and state. This leverage generated uncertainty regarding political elites’ standing vis-à-vis the state to shape early challenges to colonialism. Using an actor-centric and relational approach, I show how and why accommodation was foreclosed in Vietnam yet prevailed in Senegal.