Global Affairs

Dr. Manuel Pastor

Professor of Geography and American Studies and Ethnicity

Dr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California and Director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC’s Center for Sustainable Cities. Founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations and grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Wellness Foundation, and many others.

His research on Latin American issues has been published in journals such as International Organization, World Development, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Latin American Studies, Latin American Research Review, and Foreign Affairs. His research on U.S. urban issues has been published in Economic Development Quarterly, Review of Regional Studies, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Economic Issues, Journal of Urban Affairs, Urban Affairs Review, Urban Geography, and elsewhere and has generally focused on the labor market and social conditions facing low-income urban communities. His most recent book, co-authored with Chris Benner and Laura Leete, is Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (Russell Sage, 2007). Prior volumes include Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America (W.W. Norton, 2002; co-authored with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh) and Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together (University of Minnesota Press, 2000; co-authored with Peter Dreier, Eugene Grigsby, and Marta Lopez-Garza). His research has generally focused on issues of environmental justice, regional inclusion, and the economic and social conditions facing low-income urban communities.

Dr. Pastor speaks frequently on issues of demographic change, economic inequality, and community empowerment and has contributed opinion pieces to such outlets as the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Business Journal, and the Christian Science Monitor. He served as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California’s Speaker of the State Assembly, and in January 2002 was awarded a Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award from the California Center for Regional Leadership.

Contact Information
Office: KAP 416
Phone: (213)740-5604
E-mail: mpastor@college.usc.edu

  • Phone: (323) 259-2681
  • Email: mmacaskill@oxy.edu