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Matthew Christopher Soener

Assistant Professor

Biography

Prior to joining UIUC, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Sciences Po in Paris. I received my Ph.D. in sociology from the Ohio State University in 2018 and received a BA from the University of Kansas. 

Research Interests

Economic Sociology; Environmental Sociology; Race, Gender, and Class; Theory; Political Economy; Global and Transnational Sociology; Political Sociology

Research Description

My research combines classic themes from political economy and the sociology of inequality to understand contemporary socio-economic problems. This includes the "financialization," economic restructuring and globalization; the relationship between climate change and economic growth; native, gender, and class pay gap dynamics in the workplace; the class politics of the 2007-8 financial crisis; and how new business strategies unequally distribute profits and power in society. 

Courses Taught

Soc 200: Introduction to Social Theory

Soc 226: Political Sociology

Soc 500: Classical Social Theory

Soc 501: Contemporary Social Theory 

Soc 596: Political Economy

Soc 596: Political Sociology

Additional Campus Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Sociology
Assistant Professor, Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory

Recent Publications

Soener, M. (2024). Are IMF programs raising greenhouse gas emissions in the Global South? Socio-Economic Review, Article mwae006. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwae006

Soener, M. (2024). Decarbonization and the Capitalist State. Sociology Compass, 18(11), Article e70011. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.70011

Godechot, O., Neumann, N., Apascaritei, P., Boza, I., Hallsten, M., Henriksen, L., Hermansen, A., Hou, F., Jung, J., Kodama, N., Křížková, A., Lippényi, Z., Elvira, M. M., Melzer, S. M., Mun, E., Sabanci, H., Soener, M., & Thaning, M. (2023). Ups and downs in finance, ups without downs in inequality. Socio-Economic Review, 21(3), 1601-1627. Article mwac036. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwac036

Penner, A. M., Petersen, T., Hermansen, A. S., Rainey, A., Boza, I., Elvira, M. M., Godechot, O., Hällsten, M., Henriksen, L. F., Hou, F., Mrčela, A. K., King, J., Kodama, N., Kristal, T., Křížková, A., Lippényi, Z., Melzer, S. M., Mun, E., Apascaritei, P., ... Tufail, Z. (2023). Within-job gender pay inequality in 15 countries. Nature human behaviour, 7(2), 184-189. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01470-z

Soener, M. (2023). Financialization goes South: Foreign capital flows and financial accumulation in emerging markets. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 64(4), 327-349. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152221133058

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