Author: Matthew D. Marr
Year of DDRG Award: 2005
Grantee University: The Regents of the University of California
Dissertation Title: Transitioning Out of Homelessness in Two Global Cities: Los Angeles and Tokyo
Current Employment: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies, Asian Studies Program, Florida International University
Research Subject Areas: Homelessness, Inequality/Poverty, Urban Sociology, Globalization, Qualitative Research, Japan
Biography:
Matthew Marr's research focuses on how experiences of inequality in contemporary urban America and Japan are shaped by contexts at different levels, from the global to the individual. While scholars note that globalization erodes opportunities for living wage employment, welfare and social services, and affordable housing in global cities, they often neglect how more local conditions interact with these trends to shape individual experiences of inequality. This overlooks the question, “In what ways do differing cultures, labor and housing markets, welfare policies, and patterns of social service delivery affect experiences of inequality?” To address this question, Dr. Marr looks comparatively at strategic research sites, including housing programs for the homeless, “neighborhoods of despair,” and day labor markets. He combines street-level qualitative research with comparative, macro-sociological analysis to contribute to debates on inequality in the United States and Japan about the effects of globalization, the welfare state, culture, organizations, neighborhoods, families, and individual agency.
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