Jeff Maskovsky

Jeff Maskovsky is Professor and Executive Officer (Chair) of the Ph.D. Program in Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center, and Professor of Urban Studies at Queens College. His academic career spans over two decades since earning his Ph.D. from Temple University in 2000, with significant contributions to political anthropology and urban studies.

• Ph.D., Temple University (2000)

Maskovsky's research focuses on the intersection of race, class, and politics in urban America, with particular attention to poverty, welfare systems, health, security, and governance. His work critically examines the effects of neoliberalism on urban communities, the rise of right-wing populism, and the politics of care. He has developed significant theoretical contributions regarding the relationship between biopolitics and urban governance, with special attention to how marginalized communities navigate systems of power. His ethnographic approach emphasizes the lived experiences of people in poverty while analyzing broader structural forces.

His publications reveal a consistent focus on how political movements emerge from conditions of economic precarity and racial inequality. Maskovsky's work demonstrates how anthropological perspectives can illuminate the complex relationships between local urban experiences and global political economic forces. His recent scholarship has particularly focused on analyzing Trumpism as a form of white nationalism that has shattered the post-civil rights era liberal racial consensus.

Maskovsky has collaborated extensively with colleagues and former students, as evidenced by his co-edited volume Beyond Populism: Angry Politics and the Twilight of Neoliberalism (2020), which examines global political transformations in the context of neoliberal decline. His work has appeared in top journals including American Anthropologist, Antipode, and City and Society.

As Executive Officer of the Anthropology PhD Program at CUNY Graduate Center, Maskovsky has mentored numerous graduate students through their dissertation research, with particular emphasis on supporting ethnographic work focused on urban inequality, political movements, and community resilience. His administrative role has positioned him to shape anthropological training that emphasizes both theoretical rigor and political engagement.