Margaret Weir

Margaret Weir is the Wilson Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Her research focuses on social policy, urban poverty, and inequality in the U.S. and Europe. She previously held the Avice M. Saint Chair in Public Policy at UC Berkeley and served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Weir co-directs the Stone Project on Inequality, examining wealth’s impact on American institutions. Her work spans books like *Who Gets What? The New Politics of Insecurity* and numerous articles on welfare, labor, and metropolitan governance.

Her research interests include spatial inequality, urban policy, and social movements. Awards include the Norton Long Career Achievement Award and fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study and Russell Sage Foundation. She has advised the MacArthur Foundation’s Building Resilient Regions network and contributed to policy debates on social assistance and metropolitan governance.

Weir teaches courses on wealth/poverty dynamics, political organizations, and 21st-century policy challenges. Her recent projects analyze how poverty has shifted from urban centers to metropolitan areas, emphasizing political mobilization and service provision in health, housing, and transportation.