Ben Kaplow

Ben Kaplow is a political, environmental, and comparative-historical sociologist joining the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor as a Lecturer in August 2025. He specializes in resource politics and state-building in colonial/postcolonial North Africa, with a focus on Morocco's agricultural development legacies. His interdisciplinary research integrates archival, qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial methods.

• Ph.D. in Sociology, Yale University (2025)
• B.A. in Sociology, Haverford College

Research interests span:

• Colonial and postcolonial state formation
• Land reform and local development
• Micro-historical and spatial analysis
• Contemporary new religious movements

Currently on the academic job market, Kaplow applies social theory to examine political institutions' enduring impacts on development trajectories. Office located at 3156 LSA Building.