Armando Lara-Millan

Armando Lara-Millan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his PhD from Northwestern University and holds affiliations with the Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative and Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. His research bridges political economy, historical sociology, and ethnography to analyze institutional transformations.

• PhD in Sociology, Northwestern University
• Current Chair-Elect, Sociology of Law Section, ASA
• 2022 Distinguished Scholarly Book Award (ASA)

His work examines:

• Political Economy of Institutions: How public hospitals and county jails use caseloads to generate revenue, challenging conventional cost-benefit analyses
• Global Economic Shifts: Reassessing neoliberal theories through the lens of investment firms, corporate reporting, and the end of low-cost labor
• Urban Digital Platforms: Investigating Nextdoor and Citizen's impact on neighborhood governance and social control

Recent publications span American Sociological Review, Criminology, and Social Problems, with a focus on:

• Administrative disappearing mechanisms
• Healthcare spending dynamics
• Medical debt data collection
• Urban order reconstruction

Awards include the 2022 ASA Distinguished Scholarly Book Award. His email is armando@berkeley.edu and blog posts explore contemporary economic challenges.