Ruth O’Brien

Current Positions

  • Professor, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York (CUNY) 2006-present. Political Science (primary), Women Studies (2012-present); & American Studies (2005-present)
  • Princeton University Press Book Series Editor, The Public Square.  General-list or trade series showcases public intellectuals on politics; has published 9 books (5 of 8 won 12 awards and mentions, listed below), 4-5 more signed, in various stages.
  • Oxford University Press Book Series Editor— Heretical Thought (books signed, in various stages. Mission Statement and Advisory Board below)

Past Positions

  • Adjunct Affiliated Scholar, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C., July 2004-June 2015, recruited by Neera Tanden (president) and John Podesta (founding president)
  • Executive Officer (Chair), Ph.D. & M.A. Political Science Program at the Graduate Center, CUNY 2003-09 (two terms, appointed for a third but declined)
  • Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice & The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2003-06
  • Deputy Executive Officer, Political Science Program, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2000-03
  • Associate Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice & The Graduate Center, CUNY, 1999-02
  • Assistant Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, 1993-98
  • The Graduate School and University Center, CUNY Faculty secondary appointment, 1997-06 (now The Graduate Center, CUNY)
  • Assistant Professor, University of Denver, 1991-93

Books

Awards & Honorary Affiliations

  • 2013 (September) Author Meets Critic, American Political Science Association,  Out of Many, One: Obama and the Third American Political Tradition
  • 2013 (August) President, Idea Impact.org, New York, New York
  • 2004-Present Affiliated Scholar, Center for American Progress, Washington,   D.C.
  • 2012 Nine Public Square titles (below) have garnered 12 awards and mentions
  • 2011 Chancellor’s Award for Disability Awareness, CUNY
  • 2004-09 Center for American Progress funding for the Public Square
  • 2005 J.M. Kaplan Furthermore Foundation Award, funding for the Public Square
  • 2003 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award KPFK Nominee for radio
  • 2002 CUNY Diversity Project Development Grant
  • PSC-CUNY Grants. Received as John Jay faculty 2005-06; 2003-04; 2002-03; 2001-02; 1999-00; 1997-98; 1996-97; 1996-95
  • 2000 (April) Clarke Fellowship, Cornell University Law School
  • 1992 Law & Society Workshop Fellowship

 Articles (Peer-Reviewed)

  • “Other Voices at the Workplace: Gender, Disability and An Alternative Ethic of Care,” SIGNS: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 30, no. 2 (2005): 1529-55.
  • “From a Doctor’s to a Judge’s Gaze: Epistemic Communities and the History of Disability Rights Policy in the Workplace,” Polity 35 (April 2003): 325-46.
  • “‘A Sweatshop of the Whole Nation’: The Fair Labor Standards Act and the Failure of Regulatory Unionism,” Studies in American Political Development 15 (Spring, 2001): 33-52.
  • “Taking the Conservative State Seriously: Statebuilding and Restrictive Labor Practices in Postwar America,” Labor Studies Journal 21 (Winter 1997): 33-63.
  • “Duality and Division: The Development of American Labor Policy from the Wagner Act to the Civil Rights Act,” International Contributions to Labour Studies 4 (1994): 21-51.
  • “‘Business Unionism’ versus ‘Responsible Unionism’: Common Law Confusion: the American State and the Formation of the Pre-New Deal Labor Policy,” Law and Social Inquiry 18 (Spring 1993): 255-96.

Book Series Editor, The Public Square, Princeton University Press

The Public Square series showcases some of the world’s finest public intellectuals writing on topics at the forefront of public discourse. It features authors — be they professors, journalists, essayists, poets, or novelists — whose distinctive voices resonate both within, and far beyond, the confines of the academy. Artful, accessible, and analytical, their essays contribute to international dialogue, shape and frame national debates, and engage with enduring and fundamental questions.

Books in Public Square Series

  • 2013 Anne Norton, On the Muslim Question
  • 2012 David Marquand, The End of the West, The Once and Future Europe (paperback)
  • 2011 David Marquand, The End of the West, The Once and Future Europe 
  • One of Financial Times non-fiction favourites of 2011 in Politics          
  • 2011 Jill Lepore, The Whites of their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle over American History (paperback)
  • 2010 Jill Lepore, The Whites of their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle over American History

Gold Medal Winner of the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the History category /
2010 Bronze Medal Winner of the 2010 ForeWord Reviews Book of the  Year / Awards in the History Category
/ Named a 2010 New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice /
One of the 2010 Top Debate Worthy Books of the Year, U.S. News & World Report (online version) /
Highly Recommended Book, 2011 Annual Awards, Boston Authors Club
/ Honorable Mention for the 2010 PROSE Award for Excellence in U.S. History / American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence

2012 Martha C. Nussbaum, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (paperback)

2010 Martha C. Nussbaum, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

2012 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences / Named one of Brenda Walker’s 2010 Best Books of the Year, The Age

2010 Joan Wallach Scott, The Politics of the Veil

2010 Jeff Madrick, The Case for Big Government

2009 Andrei Codrescu, The Pos

 Victor Navasky  Anne Norton  Frances Fox Piven
Book Series Editor, Heretical Thought Book Series, Oxford University Press, USA
Book Series Editor, Heretical Thought Book Series, Oxford University Press, USA

John Podesta

  Jill Quadagno  Rogers Smith
 Deborah Stone  Philippa Strum  Cass Sunstein
 Neera Tanden  Michael Walzer  William Julius Wilson

Book Series Editor, Heretical Thought, Oxford University Press, USA

Advisory Board

Joshua Bloch Martha Fineman Mark Graber
Michael Hardt Melissa Harris-Perry Ira Katznelson
Anne Norton Karen Orren Steven Pinker
Elaine Scarry Leonard Mladow  T.V. Ramen