Anthony J. Knowles
Anthony J. Knowles, Ph.D.
Teaching Assistant Professor and Post-doc, Center for Transportation Research
Education
Ph.D. 2023 University of Tennessee
Interest Area
Political Economy, Globalization, Theory, Sociology of Work/Labor, Technology and the Future of Work, The Future of Mobility, Comparative-Historical Sociology
Courses
Social Problems and Social Justice
Introduction to Global Studies
Sociological Theory
Social Inequalities
The Political Economy of Europe
The Modern World-System
Research
My research and teaching interests in sociology include science, technology, and automation, the future of work, political economy and globalization, social theory, sociology of labor, industrial sociology, and comparative-historical sociology. My primary research focus pertains to the social and economic effects of technologies and automation, and how the continuous pursuit of higher productivity and efficiency changes the nature of labor in society. To tackle these issues, I take a global and interdisciplinary approach drawing from literatures in sociology, history, and economics, to analyze the ways that the contradictory historical dynamics of capitalism are changing the nature of work in societies around the globe.
Publications
Knowles, Anthony J. 2021. “Sociology as Social System: Luhmann, Enlightenment, and the Gap between ‘Facts’ and ‘Norms.’” In Harry F. Dahms (ed.), Society in Flux: Two Centuries of Social Theory (Current Perspectives in Social Theory 37), pp. 157-190.
Knowles, Anthony J. 2023. “Universal Basic Income, Social Justice, and Marginality: A Critical Evaluation.” Social Justice A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order. 48(4): 1-31.
Knowles, Anthony J. 2023. “The Futility of Human Capital? Contradictions of ‘Neoliberal Ethics,’ Heteronomy, and Automation.” In Harry F. Dahms (ed.), Planetary Sociology: Beyond the Entanglement of Identity and Social Structure (Current Perspectives in Social Theory 40), pp. 91-115.