Faculty Books
Bruce Carruthers
Professor
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chair
1808 Chicago Avenue
Room 203
Phone: (847) 467-1251
b-carruthers@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: (Winter 2012)
Monday 3:00-5:00
Areas of Interest
Comparative/Historical Sociology
Economy and Society
Sociology of Law
Sociology of Organizations
Relevant Links
Business Institutions Program
Comparative Historical Social Science
Biography
Professor Carruthers received his PhD at the University of Chicago in 1991. Areas of interest include comparative and historical sociology, economy and society, sociology of law and sociology of organizations. At Northwestern, Carruthers is involved in the graduate Comparative Historical Social Science (CHSS) program, and the undergraduate Business Institutions Program (BIP).
His current research projects include a study of the historical evolution of credit as a problem in the sociology of trust, regulatory arbitrage, what modern derivatives markets reveal about the relationship between law and capitalism, and the regulation of credit for poor people in early 20th Century America. He has had visiting fellowships at the Russell Sage Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. He is methodologically agnostic, and does not believe that the qualitative/ quantitative distinction is worth fighting over. Northwestern is Carruthers' first teaching position.
Carruthers has authored or co-authored five books, City of Capital: Politics and Markets in the English Financial Revolution (Princeton, 1996), Rescuing Business: The Making of Corporate Bankruptcy Law in England and the United States (Oxford, 1998), Economy/Society: Markets, Meanings and Social Structure (Pine Forge Press, 2000), Bankrupt: Global Lawmaking and Systemic Financial Crisis (Stanford, 2009), and Money and Credit: A Sociological Approach (Polity Press, 2010).
Courses Taught
SOCIOL 215: Economy and Society Syllabus
SOCIOL 302: Sociology of Complex Organizations Syllabus
SOCIOL 331: Markets, Hierarchies, and Democracies Syllabus TBA
SOCIOL 376: Special Topics: Law, Markets, & Global Economy Syllabus
SOCIOL 437: Economic Sociology Syllabus Syllabus
SOCIOL 439: Comparative & Historical Sociology Syllabus
Books
Money and Credit: A Sociological Approach
Polity Press, 2010
Bankrupt: Global Lawmaking and Systemic Financial Crisis
Stanford, 2009
City of Capital: Politics and Markets in the English Financial Revolution
Princeton, 1996
Economy/Society: Markets, Meanings and Social Structure
Pine Forge Press, 2000
Rescuing Business: The Making of Corporate Bankruptcy Law in England and the United States
Oxford, 1998
Publications
Accounting for Rationality: Double-Entry BookkeeAping and the Rhetoric of Economic Rationality
With Wendy Nelson Espeland; ASA, American Journal of Sociology, 1991
A Sociology of Bubbles
Contexts, 2009
The Color of Money and the Nature of Value: Greenbacks and Gold in Postbellum America
With Sarah Babb; The American Journal of Sociology; The University of Chicago Press, 1996
The Social Structure of Liquidity: Flexibility, Markets, and States
With Arthur L. Stinchcombe; Theory and Society, 1999
Sociology Robert F. Winch Awards for 2011
Outstanding Graduate Student Lecturer: Marina Zaloznaya
Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Assistants: Fiona Chin and Christopher Carroll
Outstanding Graduate Student Second-Year Paper: Jaimie Morse
Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Published or Presented:
Upcoming Events
Colloquium: Claire Decoteau, PhD - University of Illinois at Chicago
February 9, 2012 • 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Culture and Society Workshop: Stacy Lom, Sociology
February 9, 2012 • 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
