Kenneth Tucker

Professor of Sociology; Sociology and Anthropology

"As a social theorist, I'm interested in issues such as ‘What is the nature of the modern western world?' and ‘What social processes characterize our modern life?' It's a fantasy to think that every group can run off to its own area and live peacefully. We still have to interact and confront problems that affect us all: the international economy, the environment, crime, issues around race and class."

Contact:
Kenneth Tucker
202 Merrill House
413-538-2804

Joined MHC: 1990

Education:

  • University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., M.A., B.A.

Specialization: Sociological theory; social movements; mass communications.

Kenneth Tucker's most recent book, Classical Social Theory: A Contemporary View (2001), explores the contemporary relevance of classical social theory by examining the work of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and other theorists. Tucker's articles have been published in Current Perspectives in Social Theory; Sociological Theory; Theory, Culture, and Society; and Critical Studies in Mass Communications, among scholarly journals.

A frequent speaker at conferences, Tucker has presented his research around the world in such gatherings as the University of Stockholm's Syndicalism in Comparative Perspective Conference, the American Sociological Association Meetings, and the Theory, Culture, and Society Conference.

Tucker teaches Introduction to Sociology; Collective Behavior and Social Movements; and Issues in Sociology: Modernity and Its Discontents. Students consistently praise him for his challenging and helpful nature as well as his "great sense of humor and style of teaching."

In addition to his research and teaching, Tucker has been a manuscript referee for presses and journals, including Cambridge University Press, Theory, Culture, and Society, Columbia University Press, Sociological Inquiry, and University of Minnesota Press. He has served on panels for programs sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and coorganized conferences on sociology and mass communications.

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