Nina Bandelj is Professor of Sociology and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development at the University of California, Irvine. Her research on economy and society spans attention to micro-level economic interactions together with macro-economic transformations, blending the tradition of European classical sociology (Weber, Polanyi, Bourdieu) with American dramaturgy and pragmatism. The goal is to contribute to the theoretical and empirical knowledge in sociology by advancing three lines of inquiry: 1) on the role of culture, relational work and emotions in economic processes, 2) on transformations of communism and capitalism, and implications for social class, racial/ethnic and gender inequality, and 3) on structures and consequences of economic globalization and financialization.
Bandelj’s books include From Communists to Foreign Capitalists: The Social Foundations of Foreign Direct Investment in Postsocialist Europe (2008), Economy and State: A Sociological Perspective (2010, with E. Sowers), Economic Sociology of Work (2009), The Cultural Wealth of Nations (2011, with F. Wherry), Socialism Vanquished, Socialism Challenged: Eastern Europe and China, 1989-2009 (2012, with D. Solinger), and Money Talks: Explaining How Money Really Works (2017, with F. Wherry and V. Zelizer).
Professor Bandelj is an elected member of the Sociological Research Association honorary society, and a recipient of the Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Service of the Irvine Division of the Academic Senate, and Dynamic Womxn of UCI Academic Achievement Award. She is one of the editors of Socio-Economic Review and currently a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.