James Braun

James Braun
Assistant Professor
Building HL 406

James Braun completed his PhD at the University of Toronto in 2021. 

Professor Braun's research and teaching intersects both economic sociology and transnationalism "from below".  He is a dedicated educator who believes in inquiry-focused learning to cultivate students' sociological imagination about their lives and the world around them. 

Professor Braun's dissertation is a transnational ethnography of Jamaica's diasporan real estate market, which examines how Jamaican real estate professionals draw on public discourses of diaspora to construct the diasporan homebuyer as an idealized consumer.  Through this case study he intervenes in extant debates on the role of markets in diaspora-led development and the social dynamics of market change. 

Teaching Interests

  • Migrant transnationalism and Diaspora-making 
  • Classical social theory 
  • Work and Employment 
  • Economic sociology 
  • Qualitative methods 

Education

PhD, Sociology, University of Toronto 

M.A., Political Economy, Carleton University

Research Interests

  • The sociology of markets 
  • Migrant transnationalism and diaspora-making 
  • Financialization 
  • Globalization and development