Zachary Levenson

Zachary Levenson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida International University and a Senior Research Associate in Sociology at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. His work focuses on race, class, and urban politics in postcolonial contexts, with particular expertise in South Africa's post-apartheid urban landscape.

Levenson received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018. Prior to joining FIU, he taught at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. With over a dozen years of teaching experience at both graduate and undergraduate levels, he brings extensive pedagogical expertise to his academic positions.

Levenson's research centers on the intersections of race and class in postcolonial democracies, particularly through the lens of what he terms "racial capitalism." His acclaimed first book, Delivery as Dispossession: Land Occupation and Eviction in the Postapartheid City (Oxford University Press, 2022), presents a long-term ethnography of land occupations in South African cities after apartheid. He examines the relationship between housing delivery and mass evictions in contemporary Cape Town, developing a novel theory of the democratic capitalist state in the postcolonial world. His current research projects include a study of the independent wing of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s and 80s, tracing the emergence of the concept of "racial capitalism" among activists, and a collaborative project on qualitative research methods titled Driven by Theory: Keeping Qualitative Data in the Passenger Seat.

Levenson's scholarly output demonstrates a consistent focus on racial capitalism, urban sociology, and anti-apartheid thought, with publications spanning ethnographic studies of housing struggles, theoretical explorations of racial capitalism, and historical analyses of liberation movements. His work bridges disciplinary boundaries between sociology, political science, and African studies, with particular attention to the relationship between theory and practice in social movements.

• ASA Community and Urban Section Robert E. Park Book Award (2023)
• SSSP Global Division Outstanding Book Award (Honorable Mention, 2023)
• Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin (2022)
• ASA Sociology of Development Best Faculty Article Award (Honorable Mention, 2021)

Levenson serves on the editorial boards of City and Community (where he is Deputy Editor), Critical Sociology (Associate Editor), South African Review of Sociology, and Spectre. He regularly serves on dissertation committees at the University of Johannesburg and has mentored numerous graduate students in sociology and related fields. His research has been supported by fellowships including the Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellowship.

Levenson is actively involved in collaborative research projects, particularly with Marcel Paret on the South African tradition of racial capitalism, and with Josh Seim on qualitative research methods. His work connects academic scholarship with social justice movements, particularly those addressing housing inequality and racial oppression in urban contexts.