Joe Soss

Joe Soss is the inaugural Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota, where he holds faculty positions in the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, the Department of Political Science, and the Department of Sociology. His research and teaching explore the interplay of politics, inequalities, and public policy. He is particularly interested in how governance intersects with relations of domination, oppression, and predation in the United States. Soss's coauthored book, Disciplining the Poor (2011), was selected for the 2012 Michael Harrington Award (APSA, New Political Science) and the 2012 Oliver Cromwell Cox Award (ASA, Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities), the 2012 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award (American Library Association), and the 2015 Herbert Simon Award (APSA, Section on Public Administration). In 2016, Professor Soss was honored with the University of Minnesota's campus-wide award for outstanding contributions to graduate education, named a Distinguished University Teaching Professor, and inducted into the UMN Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Professor Soss's current book project, co-authored with Joshua Page, is Preying on the Poor: Criminal Justice as Revenue Racket. Outside his academic work, Soss is an active musician who released an album in 2015, The Sound of Sweet Ruin.