Ben Manski
Ben Manski studies the participation of ordinary people in the deliberate constitution of their societies. His work takes in social movements, law, political economy, climate and ecology, communities and municipalism, digital technology, and the corporation, focusing on democracy, constitutionalism, and system change, and he has published widely on these themes. His public sociology emphasizes intervention research in partnership with community, labor, social movement, independent business, cooperative, technology, and government agencies and organizations.
Dr. Manski founded Next System Studies at George Mason University in 2021 and serves as director of that program. He joined the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at GMU as a Term Assistant Professor in Community Engaged Sociology in 2020. In 2023, following an open search, he was hired to a tenure-line position as Assistant Professor of Public Sociology. Manski received a PhD in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2020 and a Master of Arts in Sociology in 2016, also from UCSB. He received a Juris Doctor in Law from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2005 and a BA in Sociology from the UW-Madison in 1999.
Prior to joining the faculty at GMU, Manski devoted more than two decades working as a public interest lawyer, nonprofit executive, lobbyist, issue campaign director, direct action campaigner, community organizer, and election campaign manager, as well as a member owner in worker and housing cooperatives.
