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John Asimakopoulos, born September 10, 1970, is associate professor of sociology at the City University of New York-Bronx. He is also a social justice activist, author, and public intellectual.

Background

After attending high school in Athens, Greece, Asimakopoulos returned to the United States.[1] He attended Rutgers University (New Jersey) from 1989 to 1992, where he received a bachelor's degree in sociology and economics; from 1992 to 1993 receiving his master’s degree in economics; from 1993 to 1994 receiving his master’s degree in political science; and the sociology program at the CUNY Graduate Center for his Ph.D. from 1996 to 1999.[2]

Academic career

After teaching as an adjunct professor at New Jersey and New York area universities, in 2004 he began as an assistant professor of social sciences at the City University of New York-Bronx.[3] He came to public attention in 2006, when the City University of New York refused to renew his contract.[4] Asimakopoulos alleged this was a political firing because of his outspoken libertarian socialist ideology.[5] Asimakopoulos filed for arbitration which he consequently won in 2008 returning to his position.[6] Asimakopoulos has collaborated on various projects with intellectual figures such as Stanley Aronowitz, Ruth Kinna, Peter McLaren, Michael Parenti, and Howard Zinn.[7][8] He has written books and papers on labor, globalization, and social theory focusing on social movements for social justice. His works advocate working class counter ideology, independent media and educational institutions, and direct action. Asimakopoulos is founding editor-in-chief of Theory in Action, an interdisciplinary journal[9] and sits on the editorial board of the Peace Studies Journal.[10][11] He is a reviewer for a number of academic journals. In 2010, Asimakopoulos launched a video e-journal Crushing Capitalism with Dr. Asimakopoulos offering commentary on academic topics and current events.[12][13]

He is in the process of establishing a new accredited graduate school based on the principles of critical pedagogy.[14][15]

Theory

Asimakopoulos has been a contributor to the field of critical pedagogy. His interdisciplinary work draws from a number of fields including economics, political science, sociology, history and philosophy and theoretical traditions extending from Marx to Chomsky. He is an advocate of direct democracy, vigorously opposing the anti-democratic tendencies of neoliberalism, militarism, empire, religious fundamentalism, and the ongoing attacks against social programs, the working class, the poor, and public and higher education. Asimakopoulos is noted for his contributions to Social Structures of Accumulation (SSA) theory continuing the work of American economist David Gordon.[16] Asimakopoulos also coined the concept of Globally Segmented Labor Markets expanding theoretical work in the area of labor market segmentation.[17]

Asimakopoulos has been noted by conservatives as the intellectual forefather of the 2011 “Occupy Wall Street” movement[18]
Activism

In 2007 Asimakopoulos co-founded the Transformative Studies Institute (TSI), a progressive 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational think tank based in the United States.[19][20] It “was created to provide an inclusive educational space for research and practice for social justice by academics, community organizers, activists, and political leaders”.[21] TSI is noted as a model for engaging college students with public sociology and increased civic engagement.[22]

Interviews

Interview with Sociologists Without Borders
Jeff Farias Interviews Dr. John Asimakopoulos (April 28, 2009)
Jeff Farias Interviews Dr. John Asimakopoulos (March 3, 2009)

Selected Works
Books

His most recent books include:

Shannon, Deric, Nocella, Anthony J. and Asimakopoulos, John. (Eds.). (2012). The Accumulation of Freedom: Writings on Anarchist Economics. Oakland: AK Press. ISBN 978-1849350945
Asimakopoulos, John. (2011). Revolt! The Next Great Transformation from Kleptocracy Capitalism to Libertarian Socialism through Counter Ideology, Societal Education, & Direct Action.[23] New Jersey: Transformative Studies Institute Press. ISBN 978-0983298205
Asimakopoulos, John. The Society. (forthcoming)[24]

Essays & articles

Asimakopoulos, John. 2010. Putting Theory in Action, in Kathleen Odell Korgen, Jonathan M. White, and Shelley K. White (Eds.), Sociologists in Action. Pine Forge Press. ISBN 978-1412982832
Asimakopoulos, John. 2010. The Civil Rights-Black Power Era, Direct Action, and Defensive Violence: Lessons for the Working-Class Today. Theory in Action 3(3):42-62.
Asimakopoulos, John. 2009. The Role of Free Universities in Creating Free Societies, in Anthony J. Nocella II, Steven Best, and Peter McLaren (eds.), Academic Repression: Reflections from the Academic Industrial Complex. Oakland: AK Press. ISBN 978-1904859987
Asimakopoulos, John. 2009. Globally Segmented Labor Markets. Critical Sociology, 35(2):175-198.
Asimakopoulos, John. 2008. Counter Ideology and Evolutionary Change. Theory in Action, 1(1):1-22.
Asimakopoulos, John. 2007. Societal Education, Direct Action, and Working-Class Gains, 2007. Journal of Poverty, 11(2):1-22.
Asimakopoulos, John. 2006. The Private Property Elephant: An Anarcho-SSA analysis of globalization. In McDonough, Terrence, Michael Reich, David M. Kotz, and Maria-Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez (eds.) Growth and Crisis: Social Structure of Accumulation: Theory and Analysis. Galway, Ireland: Centre for Innovation & Structural Change at the National University of Ireland, Galway, National University of Ireland, Galway
Asimakopoulos, John. February 2006. Economic Civil Disobedience. Infoshop.