James R. Jones
Biography
Research Interests: Race/Racism, American Politics, Black Politics, Organizations/Occupations/Work, and Qualitative Methods
Dr. James R. Jones is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Sociology at Rutgers University-Newark. He is also the director of the Center for Politics and Race in America. He received his PhD in Sociology from Columbia University in 2017. His research investigates racial representation and inequality inside of American political workplaces. In this work, he centers the career experiences of Black government workers to understand the complicated relationship between race, power, and inequality in our nation’s top political institutions.
He is the author of The Last Plantation: Racism and resistance in the halls of Congress, forthcoming from Princeton University Press in Spring 2024. The title draws on the fact that members of Congress and their staff have applied this telling nickname to the legislature to highlight how the institution is exempt from the very policies and principles it is tasked to create and implement (including federal workplace laws). In The Last Plantation, Dr. Jones draws upon the plantation metaphor to analyze how race and racism are produced and maintained within the congressional workplace and the Capitol at large.
Dr. Jones is a leading expert on congressional staff diversity. He has authored three groundbreaking policy reports on racial representation among congressional staff. His research demonstrates that people of color are underrepresented in both top and junior staff positions on Capitol Hill. His first paper documented the underrepresentation of racial minorities in top staff positions in the Senate for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. In 2017, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer adopted policy recommendations from this report to increase racial diversity amongst democratic staff and improve transparency in staff decisions. His recently published “The Color of Congress” with Pay Our Interns, which documents how White students dominate congressional internships.
Dr. Jones research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Dirksen Congressional Center, Columbia University, Duke University, and Princeton University. His writing has appeared in academic journals including Du Bois Review and Sociological Forum, as well as in public outlets including Teen Vogue, The Daily Beast, Newsworks, and The Hill. In addition, his research has been covered by NPR, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic.
Education
2017 Ph.D., Sociology, Columbia University
2013 M.Phil., Sociology, Columbia University
2011 M.A., Sociology, Columbia University
2009 B.A., cum laude in Political Science, George Washington University
Courses Taught
Black-ish and the Black Middle-Class
Racism and American Government
Introduction to Sociology
Class, Status, Power
Awards
2022 Global Equity Grant, Princeton University Press, $3,000
2022 Clement A. Price Humanities Scholars Faculty Fellow, Rutgers University-Newark
2021 Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline Grant, American Sociological Association, $8,000
2017-19 Summer Institute on Tenure and Professional Advancement Fellowship, Duke University
2017 Robert K. Merton Award for Best Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Columbia University
Summer Institute on Tenure and Professional Advancement Fellowship, Duke University
2016 Daniel Bell Award for Best Contribution to Sociological Research or Public Policy, Department of Sociology, Columbia University
Sammy Younge Best Student Paper Award, National Conference of Black Political Scientists
2013 Congressional Research Award, Dirksen Congressional Center
2011-14 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
2011 Best Graduate Student Paper Award, 2nd place, Association of Black Sociologists
2010 Klingstein Fellowship, Columbia University
2009-15 Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellowship, Department of Sociology, Columbia University
2009 Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society, George Washington University