Matthew Desmond
マシュー・デズモンド
Mashuu Dezumondo
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
Career
- Occupations
- Sociologist, Professor, Researcher, Author
- Active Years
- 2002-2025
- Affiliations
- Princeton University, Department of Sociology, Eviction Lab, Principal Investigator, Harvard University (former affiliation)
- Memberships
- American Philosophical Society
- Influenced By
- Mustafa Emirbayer
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State University, Tempe | — | Communications and Justice Studies | B.S. | 1998–2002 | United States |
| University of Wisconsin–Madison | — | Sociology | Ph.D. (社会学) | 2004–2010 | United States |
Arizona State University, Tempe
Communications and Justice Studies
Degree:
B.S.
Period:
1998–2002
Year of Graduation:
2002
Country:
United States
Graduated summa cum laude
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Sociology
Degree:
Ph.D. (社会学)
Period:
2004–2010
Year of Graduation:
2010
Country:
United States
PhD dissertation: Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction | Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City | 一般ノンフィクション | The Pulitzer Prizes | 受賞 |
| 2015 | MacArthur Fellowship | — | — | MacArthur Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2016 | National Book Critics Circle Award | Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City | — | National Book Critics Circle | 受賞 |
| 2017 | PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award | Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City | — | PEN America | 受賞 |
| 2006 | Harvey Fellowship | — | — | Mustard Seed Foundation | 受賞 |
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
2017
Work:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Category:
一般ノンフィクション
Organization:
The Pulitzer Prizes
Result:
受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
2015
Organization:
MacArthur Foundation
Result:
受賞
National Book Critics Circle Award
2016
Work:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Organization:
National Book Critics Circle
Result:
受賞
PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award
2017
Work:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Organization:
PEN America
Result:
受賞
Harvey Fellowship
2006
Organization:
Mustard Seed Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1 appearances
-
Edition 59 (2017) Winner
Goodreads Choice Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 15 (2023) Winner
Works
Major Works
On the Fireline: Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters
2008 Nonfiction (social research)A nonfiction account documenting the lives and risks of wildland firefighters, written in a reportage style based on field experience.
LaborCrisis responseFieldwork
Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America
2009 Academic (Sociology)A coauthored academic overview of race and class, discussing racial structures and their evolution in the United States.
RaceSocial structureClass
The Racial Order
2015 Academic (Sociology)A coauthored attempt to theorize the racial order, analyzing race relations from institutional and historical perspectives.
Race theoryInstitutional analysis
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
2016 Nonfiction (sociology/reportage)A deeply reported book documenting evictions in American cities after the 2008 financial crash, arguing that mass evictions are a cause—rather than merely a consequence—of poverty. It combines policy insight with personal narratives.
PovertyHousingEvictionUrban policy
Translations
- Japanese translation titles vary by publisher
Poverty, by America
2023 Nonfiction (sociology/policy)A critical examination of the structures and policy responsibilities behind poverty in America, linking historical background with institutional causes.
History of povertyPolicy critiqueInstitutional causes
Bibliography
- On the Fireline: Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters (2008)
- Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America (coauthored, 2009)
- The Racial Order (coauthored, 2015)
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016)
- Poverty, by America (2023)
- Other articles and essays (e.g., contributions to The New York Times Magazine)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Reportage-style fieldwork narrationCombination of academic analysis and personal storiesClear argumentative style with policy recommendations
- Recurring Motifs
- PovertyHousing lossInstitutional inequalityUrban transformation
Legacy
Desmond is a leading scholar and writer on poverty and housing in contemporary America; Evicted significantly influenced policy debates and public understanding. His Eviction Lab's data visualization and outreach work are also widely recognized.
Academic Societies
- American Philosophical Society
Quotes
-
“For a deeply researched exposé that showed how mass evictions after the 2008 economic crash were less a consequence than a cause of poverty.”
Source: The Pulitzer Prizes (citation) (2017)
Trivia
- Volunteered with Habitat for Humanity while an undergraduate at Arizona State University.
- Received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2015.
- Serves as principal investigator of the Eviction Lab at Princeton University.