Department of Sociology

Dr. Johnnie Lotesta is a political and cultural sociologist with interests in political parties, labor and social movements, the sociology of knowledge, and American politics. She received her PhD in Sociology from Brown University in 2019 and was a Democracy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance & Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School from 2019 to 2021. Johnnie's current book project, Rightward in the Rustbelt, uses political contests over right-to-work laws in the Industrial Midwest as a window into understanding the current crisis of representation in American Democracy – that is, the tendency of partisan lawmakers to pursue policy programs that do not align with the interests and preferences of voting publics. Johnnie has also published research based on a mixed-methods qualitative study of youth-led social movement organizations (SMOs), examining how such SMOs are fusing issue-based organizing with voter engagement campaigns to mobilize the youth vote, impacting young activists’ political beliefs and behaviors in the process. Her research has appeared in scholarly outlets such as Research in Political Sociology. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, and Journal of Community Psychology, as well as numerous public-facing research reports, op-eds, and book reviews. Johnnie enjoys teaching App State’s Political Sociology, Social Movements, Wealth Power & Privilege, and The Sociological Perspective courses. Believing that we learn best by doing, Johnnie's courses feature multiple opportunities to apply sociology to the world around us through activities like in-class debates, case studies, and op-ed assignments.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1000: The Sociological Perspective
• SOC 3650: Political Sociology
• SOC 4250: Social Movements
• SOC 4750: Wealth, Power, and Privilege

 Research Interests

• Political Sociology
• Labor & Social Movements
• Sociology of Knowledge
• Comparative-Historical Sociology

Recent Publications

Graizbord, Diana and Johnnie Lotesta. Forthcoming. “Knowledge & Knowledge-Actors in Comparative-Historical Political Sociology.” The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Historical Sociology, edited by Rebecca Jean Emigh and David M. McCourt. New York: Oxford University Press.

Conner, Jerusha, Johnnie Lotesta, and Rachel Stannard*. 2023. “Intersectional Politicization: A Facet of Youth Activists’ Sociopolitical Development.” Journal of Community Psychology 51:1345-1364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22941.

Lotesta, Johnnie and Cedric de Leon. 2020. “Political Parties: From Reflection to Articulation and Beyond.” Pp. 646-665 In The New Handbook of Political Sociology, edited by Thomas Janoski, Cedric de Leon, Joya Misra, and Isaac W. Martin. New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108147828.025.

Lotesta, Johnnie. 2019. “The Myth of the Business-Friendly Economy: Making Neoliberal Reforms in the Worst State for Business.” American Journal of Cultural Sociology 7(2): 214–245. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-018-0058-x.

Lotesta, Johnnie. 2017. “The Strength of Civil Society Ties: Explaining Party Change in America’s Bluest State.” Research in Political Sociology 24: 257-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0895-993520160000024009.