Marcel Paret

Marcel Paret is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Utah and Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Social Change. He holds a PhD in Sociology from UC Berkeley (2013). His research examines racial capitalism, post-apartheid social movements, urban inequality, and migrant labor politics through comparative frameworks.

Research interests span:

• Racial capitalism and postcolonial resistance
• Urban protests in South Africa and Brazil
• Labor fragmentation under neoliberalism
• Migrant precarity and citizenship

His publications demonstrate sustained focus on liberation movements after democratic transitions, particularly analyzing how racial inclusion paradoxically fragments resistance.

Awards include:

• ASA Marxist Sociology Section's Outstanding Article (2022)
• ASA Development Section's Best Faculty Article (2018)

Key works analyze the political economy of South Africa's 'passive revolution,' emphasizing tensions between formal democracy and persistent structural violence. His ethnographic approach centers grassroots activism in Johannesburg's townships.