Rachel Sherman

Rachel Sherman is the Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology at The New School, focusing on social class, culture, and inequality. Her research explores how social hierarchies are reproduced, contested, and embedded in cultural narratives. She holds a BA from Brown University (1991) and a PhD from UC Berkeley (2003).

Her work combines ethnography and interviews to examine service work, affluent lifestyles, and redistributive movements. Notable publications include Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels (2007) and Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence (2017), which analyzes the psychological and moral tensions among wealthy New York parents. Her current project, Class Traitors, investigates affluent progressives advocating for systemic wealth redistribution.

• Research Interests: Social inequality, service work, social movements, qualitative methods, moral legitimacy of wealth.
• Awards: Carnegie Fellowship (2018–2020), Distinguished Article Award (2001).

Teaching includes courses on sociology of work, social movements, and qualitative research methods. Sherman is frequently cited in media outlets like The New York Times and Financial Times for her insights on wealth and privilege.