Edward Walker

Edward Walker is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and former CASBS Fellow at Stanford University (2021-22). His research focuses on corporate political activities, social movements, and environmental policy, particularly examining contentious interactions between industries and societal actors. His work explores fracking politics, astroturfing strategies, and the sociological dimensions of net zero emissions goals.

Walker earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University. He has authored influential books, including Grassroots for Hire (Cambridge University Press, 2014), which won the Charles Tilly Award. His research appears in top journals like the American Sociological Review and American Journal of Sociology.

He has received multiple awards, including the ASA Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section’s Best Article Award (2016) and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellowship (2009-11). His grants include NSF-funded projects on corporate net zero goals and fracking's social impacts.

Walker teaches courses on collective behavior, political sociology, and corporate power. He is affiliated with UCLA’s Movements, Organizations, and Markets Workshop and the Comparative Analysis Seminar.