Kenneth H. Tucker, Jr.

  • Helen P. Bibbero Professor of Sociology
  • Nexus Track Chair for Journalism, Media, and Public Discourse
Kenneth H. Tucker, Jr.

Kenneth Tucker is the author of five books, most recently “Workers of the World Enjoy! Aesthetic Politics from Revolutionary Syndicalism to the Global Justice Movement” (Temple University Press, 2010). This book explores how left and right-wing social movements from the late 19th century to today have used images, art and performance to express and publicize their ideas and goals. His other books explore topics such as the relevance of the classical social theory of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Du Bois and Freud for the understanding of contemporary societies, the sociological theory of Anthony Giddens, the public sphere and French labor movements in the early 20th century and the rise of manufacturing elites in the 19th century United States. His articles have been published in journals including the American Journal of Cultural Sociology; American Nineteenth-Century History; Sociological Theory; Theory, Culture, and Society and Critical Studies in Mass Communications, among other scholarly journals.

His current work focuses on how social movements such as Black Lives Matter and the election of Donald Trump both reflect and contribute to significant changes in American political culture. He is also working on a project that explores the role of women in creating upper class culture in 19th century New England.

Tucker teaches Introduction to Sociology, Collective Behavior and Social Movements, Development of Social Thought, Contemporary Sociological Theory and Social Inequality. He was rated as one of the best 300 teachers in the country by the Princeton Review. Students consistently praise him for his clarity, the challenging nature of his courses, and his sense of humor and participatory style of teaching.

Areas of Expertise

Sociological theory, social movements, social inequality, historical sociology

Education

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

Happening at Mount Holyoke

Recent Campus News

Mount Holyoke sociology professor Kenneth Tucker probes the decline of trust in institutions and concomitant rise of individualism in the United States.

Grants from the Fulbright Program will support Mount Holyoke winners’ graduate study and independent research, and send two to teach English in Europe and Asia.

Recent Publications

Kenneth Tucker published the article, “A New Kind of Personal Politics: On the Populism of Trump and Sanders,” Journal of Political Ideologies. Published online December 22, 2022.

Tucker, K. "The Political is Personal, Expressive, Aesthetic, and Networked:  Contemporary American Languages of the Self from Trump to Black Lives Matter."  American Journal of Cultural Sociology. ( June 2017).

Tucker, K. "(S)he Conquers Who Endures":  Theodora DeWolf Colt and the Birth of a New American Elite," American Nineteenth Century History 18 (2017):  63-85 (with Barbara Tucker).

Tucker, K. "Politics and Aesthetics," Sociology Compass 5 (August 2011): 712-20.

Tucker, K. Workers of the World Enjoy!  Aesthetic Politics from Revolutionary Syndicalism to the Global Justice Movement (Temple University Press, 2010)

Recent Awards

Awarded the 2012 Meribeth E. Cameron Prize for Scholarship for his stunning achievement as a scholar of cultural and social theory and his ability to open students’ minds.

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