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of Victoria
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Department of Sociology

Research on ecology, global issues & social movements

Man standing in clear cut forest

Researchers

William Carroll

William Carroll is a critical sociologist with research interests in:

  • the political economy/ecology of corporate capitalism
  • social movements and social change
  • critical social theory and method.

His current research focuses on the relationships between corporate power, fossil capitalism and the climate crisis.

Aaron Devor

Aaron Devor has been researching, writing, and teaching about gender diversity and social change since the mid-1980s. He initiated and holds the inaugural position as the world’s only Research Chair in Transgender Studies and started and hosts the international and interdisciplinary Moving Trans History Forward conferences. He is also the founder and academic director of the world’s largest Transgender Archives. The archives are home to the world’s most extensive original records of the work of international transgender activists.

Aaron is the biographer of Reed Erickson, one of the founders of transgender activism in the mid-20th century and has personally known many of the founders of transgender activism.

Peyman Vahabzadeh

Peyman Vahabzadeh studies human (collective) action and social movements. He uses a phenomenological lens to study the generative power of social movements for societal renewal. He studies the conditions under which individuals become actors, activists or agents.  

Peyman’s work is on theoretical and philosophical aspects of social movements and collective action. This includes violence and nonviolence, and the empirical study of the Iranian social and political movements since the 1960s. He also studies global social movements that offer alternatives to the current civilizational order.

Anelyse Weiler

Anelyse Weiler's research examines struggles for workers' rights, dignified global migration, and environmental sustainability. Her work has focused on opportunities to better protect workers from occupational health and safety hazards such as extreme heat, pesticides, and sexual violence. Within this area of study, her research has investigated how both social movements and industry lobbying can shape a broad range of laws and policies. Currently, she is examining how trade unions in Canada are grappling with the climate crisis and prospects for good, green jobs. 

Anelyse often draws on community-engaged approaches to research and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Min Zhou

Min Zhou’s research interests fall under the rubric of globalization and transnational sociology. He is working on 3 projects that cover distinct aspects of global change:

  1. An examination of the efficacy of regional trade agreements in promoting global market expansion.
  2. Research into why governments support global institutions that fight for global norms, such as human rights and environmental protection, despite obvious conflict between these norms and state sovereignty.
  3. A study of the involvement of grassroots organizations in the anti-Japanese movement in China.