John Asimakopoulos

John Asimakopoulos, born September 10, 1970, is a professor of sociology at the City University of New York-Bronx.^[1] He says he is a "Scholar-Activist" and "Organic Intellectual".^[2]

Background

After attending high school in Athens, Greece, Asimakopoulos returned to the United States.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] He came to public attention in 2006, when the City University of New York refused to renew his contract.^[6] Asimakopoulos alleged this was a political firing because of his outspoken libertarian socialist ideology.^[7] Asimakopoulos filed for arbitration which he consequently won in 2008 returning to his position.^[8]

Asimakopoulos set up Theory in Action, an interdisciplinary journal^[9] and sits on the editorial board of the Peace Studies Journal.^[10][11] In 2010, Asimakopoulos launched a YouTube channel, "Crushing Capitalism with Dr. Asimakopoulos", commenting on academic topics and current events.^[12][13]

As of 2008, he was trying to start a new accredited graduate school based on the principles of critical pedagogy.^[14][15]

Theory

Asimakopoulos coined the concept of Globally Segmented Labor Markets expanding theoretical work in the area of labor market segmentation.^[16]

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.,^[17][18] which has a YouTube channel^[19] and a Scribd channel.^[20] Asimakopoulos uploads activist videos to the YouTube channel. 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]

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 978-1-84935-094-5
• Asimakopoulos, John. (2011). Revolt! The Next Great Transformation from Kleptocracy Capitalism to Libertarian Socialism through Counter Ideology, Societal Education, & Direct Action.^[22] New Jersey: Transformative Studies Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-9832982-0-5
• Asimakopoulos, John. The Society. (forthcoming)^[23]

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 978-1-4129-8283-2
• 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 978-1-904859-98-7
• 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.

References

External links

• About Dr. Asimakopoulos