Daniel Levy
Daniel.Levy@stonybrook.edu
Areas of Interest
Political Sociology, Memory Studies, Comparative Historical Sociology, Globalization, Human Rights
Bio
Daniel Levy received his PhD from Columbia University. He is a Professor of Sociology. As a political sociologist he is interested in issues of globalization, collective memory studies and comparative-historical sociology. Together with Natan Sznaider he published The Holocaust and Memory in the Global Age (Temple University Press, 2005). He has been exploring the global diffusion of rights norms and their impact on questions of nation-state legitimacy. The result of this research is a monograph entitled Human Rights and Memory (Penn State University Press, 2010). He is also co-editor of The Collective Memory Reader (with Jeffrey Olick and Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Oxford University Press, 2011). From 2006 to 2011 he has served as an editor for the Rose Series, a joint publication from the American Sociological Association and the Russell Sage Foundation. He is co-founder of an interdisciplinary Initiative for Historical Social Sciences. In 2009 he co-founded the Columbia University Seminar on 'History, Redress and Reconciliation', which he is co-chairing with Elazar Barkan. His interest in memory studies is also reflected in the Memory Studies Bank, which serves as a virtual bibliographic repository for the field of memory studies.
CV
Selected Publications
Nedelcheva, Dafina and Daniel Levy. Civilizational mnemonics and the longue durée: The Bulgarian Case. 2022. Memory Studies 21(1): 1-27
“Memory Practices and Theory in a Global Age” Handbook of Contemporary Social and Political Theory, Gerard Delanty and Stephen Turner (eds.) Routledge. Pp: 501-511
Levy, Daniel. 2020. “Traumatism and the Changing of Temporal Figurations” Social Research International Quarterly 87(3): 565-590.
Levy, Daniel. 2020. “Catastrophic Teleologies and Contemporary Memory Cultures” Soziale Gedächtnisse der Katastrophe Oliver Dimbath and Michael Heinlein (eds.) Berlin: Spring VS. pp: 389-404.
Levy, Daniel. 2020. Zeitschrift für Fußball und Gesellschaft (2020) Kick and Run. Memoir with Soccer Ball, Jonathan Wilson Bloomsbury Reader. 2013.
"Risk and the Cosmopolitanization of Solidarities"Journal of Risk Research 20(6): 1 - 12 (2018).
"Cosmopolitanizing Catastrophism: Remembering the Future"Theory, Culture, and Society 33(7-8): 291-299 (2016).
"Memory and Cosmopolitanism: A Figurational Approach" in The Ashgate Companion to Memory Studies (ed. Siobhan Kattago). Ashgate. 2015. 211-224.
Ulrich Beck and Daniel Levy (2013) "Cosmopolitanized Nations: Reimagining Collectivity in World Risk Society" in Theory, Culture and Society 30 (2): 3-31
The Collective Memory Reader (co-edited with Jeffrey Olick and Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi), Oxford University Press, 2011
"Reflexive Particularism and Europeanization: The Reconfiguration of the National" Global Networks 11, 2 (2011): 139-159. Daniel Levy, Michael Heinlein, Lars Breuer
Human Rights and Memory (with Natan Sznaider), Penn State University Press 2010
“Recursive Cosmopolitanisation: Argentina and the Global Human Rights Regime” British Journal of Sociology 61(3): 579-596
"The Transformation of Sovereignty: Towards a Sociology of Human Rights" British Journal of Sociology Vol. 57 No. 4: 657-676. (2006) Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider.
The Holocaust and Memory in a Global Age (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, Fall 2005) Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider.
Memories of Universal Victimhood: The case of Ethnic German Expellees" German Politics and Society 23(2): 1 - 27 (2005) Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider.
"Forgive and Not Forget: Reconciliation between Forgiveness and Resentment" Taking Wrongs Seriously: Apologies and Reconciliation. Elazar Barkan and Alexander Karn (eds.) (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2005) Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider.
"The Politics of Commemoration: The Holocaust, Memory and Trauma" Handbook of Contemporary European Social Theory Gerard Delanty (ed.). (London and New York: Routledge, 2005). Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider. pp 289-297.
Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe: Transatlantic Relations after the Iraq War (London: Verso, Spring 2005) Daniel Levy, Max Pensky, John Torpey (eds.)
"The Institutionalization of Cosmopolitan Morality: The Holocaust and Human Rights" Journal of Human Rights 3(2): 143-157 (2004) Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider.
"The Cosmopolitan Figuration: Historicizing Reflexive Modernization" Ulrich Becks kosmopolitisches Projekt Angelika Poferl and Natan Sznaider (eds.) (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2004) pp. 177-187.
"Institutionalizing the Past: Shifting Memories of Nationhood in German Education and Immigration Legislation" Memory and Power in International Relations. Jan-Werner Mueller (ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003 (with Julian Dierkes).
"Refugees, Expellees, and Aussiedler in the Federal Republic of Germany: Social, Political, and Legal Dimensions of the Integration Process" Coming Home to Germany? The Integration of Ethnic Germans from Central and Eastern Europe in the Federal Republic. David Rock and Stefan Wolff (eds.) Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2002.
Challenging Ethnic Citizenship: German and Israeli Perspectives on Immigration. New York: Berghahn Books (2002) (eds. with Yfaat Weiss)
"Memory Unbound: The Holocaust and the Formation of Cosmopolitan Memory" European Journal of Social Theory (with Natan Sznaider) 5(1):87-106. 2002.
Erinnerung im globalen Zeitalter: Der Holocaust. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2001) (with Natan Sznaider)
"The Future of the Past: Historiographical Disputes and Competing Memories in Germany and Israel" History and Theory Vol. 38, No. 1: 51-66, 1999.
"Collective Memory and Cultural Constraint: Holocaust Myth and Rationality in German Politics" American Sociological Review Vol. 62 December:921-936, 1997 (with Jeffrey K. Olick).Undergraduate Courses
Course Description:
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to various intersections of
mass media, popular culture and society. What are the cultural, political, social,
ideological and economic underpinnings of media messages? How does the digital revolution
affect the flow of media information? How does the control of media ownership inform
dominant frames of representation? How have media representations of class, gender,
race and ethnicity changed over time? What are the implications of globalization on
media production and the exchange of information? How do global and technological
changes affect the coverage of war and terrorism? We will explore processes of mass
communication and how they are related to politics, economics, social and cultural
phenomenon. Historical media developments (from the printed press to the digital information
technology) as well as theoretical perspectives to analyze the mass media will be
addressed. Our central objective is to learn about the changing relationship of media
and society, and apply critical methods to analyze the flow of _images and messages
in political news, popular culture and other realms of mass media(ted) communication.
Course Description:
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to the field of Global Sociology.
It introduces students to sociological perspectives on various manifestations of political,
economic, social and cultural globalization. One central objective of the class is
to provide students with an analytical tool kit to study the causes and effects of
global issues including: the changing role of state sovereignty; the reconfiguration
of International Relations and new forms of warfare; the social and political implications
of a globalized economy; the emergence of new cultural forms in which local and global
trends are fused; the role of new information technologies and deterritorialized media;
new types of social movements that have arisen in the context of globalization; increasing
migration movements and related forms of transnationalism; the growing significance
of environmental risks. The course will explore the sociological treatment of these
themes and compare them with the everyday representations of globalization in the
public media, primarily the printed press. We will draw on a variety of conceptual
perspectives to understand the basic dynamics of globalization processes.
Course Description:
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to the field of Political Sociology.
It involves the study of the relationship between society and politics. Political
Sociology is located at the intersection of sociology-1, political science, history
and economics. It is primarily concerned with the various ways in which power is conceptualized.
We will explore some of its major dimensions: the social organization of power, state
formation processes, and the changing dynamics of state-society relations. The course
will draw on a variety of theoretical perspectives to understand the political foundations
and struggles of modern democracies. We will apply these analytic tools to empirical
cases and explore how state-society relations (as well as the terms to study them)
have developed historically.
Course Description:
This course surveys various citizenship and immigration theories from a historical-comparative
perspective. The class explores the relationship of globalization and developing immigration
trends. A variety of citizenship debates will be addressed. Particular emphasis rests
on the ways in which representations of immigrants are shaped and, in turn, inform
conceptions of culture and nationhood. We will discuss a wide array of themes ranging
from issues of multiculturalism, the emergence of Diaspora cultures and transnational
communities. Focusing on Europe and North-America, this course surveys the political,
social, demographic and economic consequences of globalization on international migration.
The first part of the class examines various citizenship and immigration theories
in comparative-historical perspective. The second part addresses recent developments
revolving around globalization, with a particular focus on emerging transnational
formations (e.g. disapora communities and multicultural citizenship). In the third
part we study the empirical manifestations of these formations. Europe, along with
North America, has become a major magnet for contemporary migrants.
Graduate Courses
Course Description:
The purpose of this class is to introduce students to doing sociology-1 comparatively
and historically. We will be looking at how sociology-1 integrates theory and historical
data through a variety of methods. Research design and the evaluation of empirical
sources constitute the central objective of course. Historical-comparative approaches
provide a variety of methodological tools for sociological analysis. Among the issues
and techniques to be explored are: the formulation of a research problem; types of
data; uses of theories and concepts; modes of historical discourse; strategies of
explanation and the deployment of evidence. The course is divided into four broad
segments: 1) different aspects of comparative-historical methods revolving around
research designs and analytic techniques. 2) case studies highlighting some of these
methods. Different techniques of comparison will be tested with reference to a) state
structures (e.g. nation-state formation), b) social change (e.g. revolutions and social
movements), and c) issues of nation and identity in the context of the 'cultural turn.'
3) the effects of globalization on established methods in comparative-historical research.
4) student presentations of a research project which incorporates some of the methodological
tools we discuss in the course of the term.
Course Description:
This course explores the methodological, theoretical and empirical significance various
processes of globalization have for our analysis of politics and society. The class
is designed as a survey introducing students to the field of Global Sociology. It
offers sociological perspectives on different manifestations of political, economic,
social and cultural globalization. Its main organizing principle revolves around the
tension between a prevalent 'Methodological Nationalism' and the emerging possibilities
for a 'Cosmopolitan Methodology.' The latter seeks to complement a nation-state centered
stance with an analytic tool kit that provides transnational perspectives. Particular
attention will be paid to the effects these processes have on key themes in various
areas of sociological inquiry such as: the changing role of state sovereignty and
the emergence of nation-state transcending forms of legitimacy; the underlying political
and social implications of a global economy; the reconfiguration of international
relations and changing features of warfare; the significance of New Social Movements
and International Non-Governmental Organizations; the global focus on environmental
risks; the impact of migration on the contested notion of transnationalism and concomitant
conceptions of citizenship; the fusing of cultural forms and related tensions between
local and global trends.
Course Description:
This seminar is designed to provide graduate students with a broad understanding of
the general approaches in the field of Political Sociology, which is located at the
intersection of sociology-1, political science, history and economics. It is primarily
concerned with the various ways in which power is conceptualized. The course offers
analytic tools for understanding the changing relationship between state and society
drawing on a variety of theoretical perspectives to understand the political foundations
of and struggles in modern democracies. We will apply these analytic tools to empirical
cases and explore how state-society relations (as well as the terms to study them)
have developed historically (spanning the emergence of the nation-state and recent
features of globalization). The class is divided into four major sections. The first
part addresses fundamental assumptions about politics in historical and conceptual
terms. The second part explores key concepts such as Power, State and Nationhood.
In the third part we will address various theories of State-Society Relations (e.g.
Pluralism, Elitism, (Neo)Marxism and Neo-Institutionalism). We will explore how the
balance between state and civil society has been shaped by the emergence of New Social
Movements, Immigration and the impact of the Media. In the fourth part, we look at
the impact various globalization processes have on the autonomy of the Nation-State
and possible reconfigurations of Civil Society.
Emerging Modes of Identification in the Age of Globality
Course Description:
This is a class for advanced graduate students with an interest in immigration and
questions of collective identification in a global age. The course explores the relationship
of globalization and ongoing debates on a variety of citizenship issues. Particular
emphasis rests on the ways in which representations of immigrants are shaped and,
in turn, inform conceptions of culture, nationhood and citizenship. The first part
of the class examines various citizenship and immigration theories in historical perspective.
The second part addresses recent developments revolving around globalization, with
a particular focus on emerging transnational formations. These include post-national
scenarios, diaspora communities and questions of multicultural citizenship. In the
third part we study the empirical manifestations of these formations in the Western
European context. Europe, along with North America, has become a major magnet for
contemporary migrants. Recent European migration trends offer an interesting prism
on globalization insofar as they organize collectivities through a highly institutionalized
supranational body (EU). This creates the legal foundations for these trends, provides
legitimacy for competing visions of collective self-understanding as well as demands
to establish firm criteria for national belonging. The fourth part of the course will
be dedicated to students' case studies.
Course Description:
Since the end of the Second World War we observe the consolidation of a Human Rights
Regime that manifests itself along three central dimensions: through the formation
of nation-transcending legislation (e.g. International Tribunals and the institutionalization
of supra-national Courts); a politics of restitution that seeks to compensate former
victims; and the institution of truth and reconciliation commissions. The latter modes
of coming to terms with difficult national pasts, are particularly salient to states
facing transitional conditions, but can also be found in the context of established
democracies. Based on those developments, this is a course for advanced graduate students
with an interest in: the sociological significance of Human Rights norms and their
various effects on international and domestic politics. The aforementioned proliferation
of Human Rights Regimes and their institutionalization will serve as an analytic prism
to explore their relative impact on: Migration patterns, War Crime Tribunals, Genocide
prevention and the monitoring of Ethnic Cleansing and other aspects of restitution
politics. We will also analyze how these developments relate to the potential reconfiguration
of state-society relations, and the role both non-state actors (such as NGOs, INGOs,
TSMs) as well as supranational organizations play in this emerging constellation.