# Jason Beckfield ![Jason Beckfield 2023](/sites/g/files/omnuum2326/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/jbeckfield/files/jb_headshot_2021_1.jpg?itok=a5jK6yi5) **Jason Beckfield**, (he, him, his), is the Robert G. Stone Jr. Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, where he is also the [Associate Director of the Center for Population and Development Studies](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/population-development/). He took his PhD. in Sociology in 2005 at Indiana University in Bloomington, and later taught at the University of Chicago before joining the Harvard faculty in 2007. His research and teaching are in the areas of social stratification, political sociology, population health, and climate change. Currently, he is investigating the sociology of energy transitions, with a focus on the petrochemical-rich region of the United States Gulf Coast. Jason Beckfield studies sociological dimensions of energy transition, including indigenous energy transitions on the US Gulf Coast, community engagement for energy transition and climate resilience on Cape Ann, and the [pragmatist social mechanisms](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1177_000312240907400302&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=-BuqgjDCLPJB45qQY2s9wV2Cu5RkNqDLxGN9yFY69uQ&e=) of decarbonizing transportation. Beckfield's Climate Sociology Lab, which includes doctoral students [DA Evrard](https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/people/daniel-alain-evrard), [Major Eason](https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/people/major-eason), and [Sammy Wyman](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.linkedin.com_in_samanthapwyman_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=gbaHEq-QV572fEJ0wrqgOn8ZaiS8jYzK5taFz2vowXU&e=), alongside undergraduate research assistants in the [Fellows at the Forefront](https://publicservice.fas.harvard.edu/fellows-forefront) program, is addressing the following research questions: 1. What are the sociological causes and consequences of energy transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources? 2. How do the social processes of decarbonization (climate mitigation) and resilience (climate adaptation) projects affect the speed and success of such projects? 3. As especially interesting cases combining historical dispossession, current climate vulnerability, current renewable resources, and current resilience capacity, how do indigenous communities in the United States relate to energy transition? Beckfield and Evrard's recent [article in the Annual Review of Sociology](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1146_annurev-2Dsoc-2D031021-2D012201&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=w6ObjMZrbNRZGTtA05_xkpENXj6HvVA1nSizuKiT-xk&e=) sets an agenda for the sociology of energy transitions, which extends [earlier research on the US Gulf Coast](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ceepr.mit.edu_wp-2Dcontent_uploads_2022_12_2022-2DThe-2DRoosevelt-2DProject-2DGulf-2DCoast-2DCase-2DStudy.pdf&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=oMxra_LZlkJ74k6QfRH5Fv4yY6nUPf2eqWKs5WrAhBI&e=). Since concluding that project, Beckfield has continued to partner with the [Lowlander Center of Louisiana](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.lowlandercenter.org_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=0RcHhKe_oyzJZ-rZs5DQ1Qv0pD_qWsfqBcyZ0WQ2Kzs&e=) on participatory action research on indigenous energy transitions, supported by the Salata Institute, the Johnson Climate Fund, and a US Department of Energy SOLVE-IT prize. In addition to collaborating with the Lowlander Center, Beckfield also works with [colleagues at the Graduate School of Design](https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/office-for-urbanization/) on energy transition and resilience on Cape Ann, and the [US Department of Transportation's Climate Change Research and Technology Program](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.transportation.gov_sites_dot.gov_files_2024-2D06_Climate-2520Change-2520Research-2520-2526-2520Technology-252C-2520CCRT.pdf&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=v-ZX2B6E3faOK1sxR1FLCcTw3cxQQXRn4HFEfCyUPfA&e=). This last program was cancelled prematurely, but Beckfield's work on the social science of decarbonizing transportation continues, including in a new webinar series on Climate Change and Transportation Systems. Beckfield's climate sociology research builds on his earlier work on the relationships between institutional change and changing patterns of social inequality. His work on inequality in the world polity culminated in [an article in the American Journal of Sociology](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.journals.uchicago.edu_doi_abs_10.1086_649577&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=OuPFGmYtVe-VhG9rwk7PJX0lR68zVaryRa82-j2qqQQ&e=). His work on European integration and inequality culminated in [*Unequal Europe*](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__global.oup.com_academic_product_unequal-2Deurope-2D9780190494261-3Fcc-3Dus-26lang-3Den-26&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=zNrnbkw5qsHxFyZphVrbJ5e3ugJgKyAYRjVIohtTpqs&e=), published by Oxford University Press. And his work on the rules of the game in the distribution of population health culminated in [*Political Sociology and the People's Health*](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__global.oup.com_academic_product_political-2Dsociology-2Dand-2Dthe-2Dpeoples-2Dhealth-2D9780190492472-3Fcc-3Dus-26lang-3Den-26&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=WfDP8GWw6oW36qyaH5hLpvZMGQDlATaVqcPEgVW1vPI&m=Cu8tBpw4BDsBSaIxAsLwsuAYI99FzYFtCevmulpbzQi1WjCkdJsu2U7yEWItrn3P&s=niXXwXjjeaSBGNbPLpwcV8YYbbGRgUu2-86gRuq7Tsg&e=), also published by OUP. Since joining the Department of Sociology at Harvard in 2006, Beckfield has taught a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including social inequality, globalization, quantitative methods, population health, the teaching practicum, the article-writing practicum, and, most recently, climate sociology. He has also served in a variety of administrative positions at Harvard, including Chair of Sociology, Director of Graduate Studies, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Associate Director of the Center for Population and Development Studies. [Curriculum Vitae](https://jbeckfield.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum2326/files/2025-04/Beckfield%20CV%20April%202025.pdf) (April 2025) [Updates from the Lowlander Center](https://www.lowlandercenter.org/news-updates) [Crossed Wires - A Salata Institute-Roosevelt Project Study of the Development of High-Voltage Transmission Lines in the United States](https://jbeckfield.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum2326/files/2025-02/Crossed-Wires_Full-Report.pdf) [How Grid Projects Get Stuck – Four Cases in Long-Distance Transmission Development in the United States](https://jbeckfield.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum2326/files/2025-02/How-Grid-Projects-Get-Stuck-Report.pdf)