Steve Pfaff

Steve

Pfaff

Professor

(206) 616-9377

pfaff@uw.edu

CV (142.47 KB)

Savery 235

Office Hours: 

T TH 10:20-11:30

Fields of Interest

• Collective Action
• Comparative Sociology
• East European
• Historical Sociology
• Political Sociology
• Religion
• Social Movements
• Theory

Background and Experience

Summary

Ph.D., New York University, 1999

Research

Publications, Articles

• Wurpts, Bernd, Katie E. Corcoran, and Steven Pfaff. 2018. “The Diffusion of Protestantism in Northern Europe: Historical Embeddedness and Complex Contagions in the Adoption of the Reformation.” Social Science History 42(2):213-244.  
• Marion Goldman and Steven Pfaff. 2014. “Reconsidering Virtuosity: Religious Innovation and Spiritual Privilege”, Sociological Theory 32/2: 128-46.  
• Pfaff, Steven, Michael Hechter and Katie E. Corcoran. Forthcoming, “The Problem of Solidarity in Insurgent Collective Action: The Nore Mutiny of 1797.” Social Science History. (Forthcoming)

Publications

• Hechter, Michael, Steven Pfaff and Patrick Underwood. 2016. “Grievances and the Genesis of Rebellion: AnAnalysis of Mutiny in the Royal Navy, 1740-1820”, American Sociological Review 81/1: 165-89.  

Research Advised: Graduate Masters Theses

• Jabbarli, Ramin. 2021. "Making and Transcending Boundaries: The Effect of Ritual on the Nationalism among Dominant and Subordinate Ethnicities in the Near East." M.A. Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Guler, Selen. 2019. "The Good, The Bad, and The Taxed: How Taxes Shape Morals in Markets." M.A. Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Karceski, Steven M. 2017. "Political Institutions and Carbon Taxation." M.A. Thesis. Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Haskett, Breon. 2020. "The Right To Work For Less: The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unfair Labor Practice Filing at the NLRB." M.A. Thesis. Department of Sociology, University of Washington. (Completed/published)

Research Advised: Graduate Dissertations

• Mondesir, Raphael. 2018. "Civic Participation in Indonesia: Islam, Community, and Rural Development." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Wurpts, Bernd. 2018. "Networks into Institutions or Institutions into Networks? Evidence from the Medieval Hansa." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• O'Brien, Michelle L. 2018. "The Long Shadow: The Long-Term Consequences of Armed Conflict for Population Change in Tajikistan." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Merklinghaus, Carter A. 2018. "To Use or Not to Use?  Substance Abuse and Post-9/11 Veterans: The Impact of Military Service on the Life Course." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Tomczuk, Sara Jean. 2017. "Environment of Tension, Moments of Conflict: A Comparative Study of Majority-Roma Interethnic Relations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia." PhD Dissertation. Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Underwood, Patrick. 2016. "Conflict and Stability in the Neoliberal Era: Explaining Urban Unrest in Latin America." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Kistner, Kelly. 2014. "Organizing Knowledge: Comparative Structures of Intersubjectivity in Nineteenth-Century Historical Dictionaries." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Powers, Erin. 2014. "Individual-Group Dynamics in a 12-Step Fellowship: Identification, Service, and Recovery in Overeaters Anonymous." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Corcoran, Katie E. 2012. "Religious Capital as Human, Cultural, Social, and Emotional: Toward a Sociological Theory of Membership Dynamics in Religious Voluntary Associations." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Kabiri, Nika. 2012. "Tribal Durability: Explaining Autonomy Among the Pashtun Frontier Tribes." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Pettinicchio, David. 2012. "From the Government to the Streets: Why the U.S. is a Policy Innovator in Disability Rights." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Valdez, Sarah. 2011. "Neonationalism in Scandinavia: Immigration, Segregation, and Anti-Immigrant Voting in Denmark and Sweden." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Eger, Maureen A. 2010. "Ethnic Heterogeneity and the Limits of Altruism." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  
• Wollschleger, Jason. 2010. "Organization and Religious Participation: Solving Collective Action Problems at the Congregational Level." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.  

Courses Taught

Winter 2021

• SOC 316 A: Introduction to Sociological Theory

Autumn 2020

• SOC 357 A: Sociology of Religion
• SOC 510 A: Seminar in Sociological Theory

Autumn 2019

• SOC 316 A: Introduction to Sociological Theory
• SOC 510 A: Seminar in Sociological Theory

Spring 2019

• SOC 316 A: Introduction to Sociological Theory

Winter 2019

• SOC 357 A: Sociology of Religion
• SOC 508 A: Logic of Social Inquiry

Autumn 2018

• SOC 316 A: Introduction to Sociological Theory

Autumn 2017

• SOC 357 A: Sociology Of Religion

Spring 2017

• SOC 357 A: Sociology Of Religion
• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Winter 2017

• SOC 316 A: Introduction To Sociological Theory
• SOC 501 A: Proseminar
• SOC 555 A: Methods In Macro, Comparative, And Historical Sociology

Autumn 2016

• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Spring 2016

• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Winter 2016

• SOC 316 A: Introduction To Sociological Theory
• SOC 501 A: Proseminar
• SOC 555 A: Methods In Macro, Comparative, And Historical Sociology

Autumn 2015

• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Spring 2015

• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Winter 2015

• SOC 316 A: Introduction To Sociological Theory
• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Autumn 2014

• SOC 501 A: Proseminar

Related News

Related News

• Steve Pfaff's Op-Ed in the Washington Post Highlights His Research on Discrimination Against Muslim and Atheist Families in US Schools  Sep 14, 2020
• In the News:  Williams and Pfaff Describe Impact of GOP Tax bill on Graduate Education at UW in Seattle Times op-ed Dec 11, 2017
• On the Quincentennial of Luther's 95 theses, Steve Pfaff discusses how Luther's spiritual practice helped spread the Reformation. Oct 30, 2017

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