{"id":5866,"date":"2023-04-12T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/?page_id=5866"},"modified":"2025-07-16T12:07:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T19:07:58","slug":"manuel-pastor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/manuel-pastor\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Manuel Pastor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC. <\/p>\n

Pastor\u2019s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities \u2013 and the social movements seeking to change those realities. <\/p>\n

Pronouns: he\/him\/his
\nPhone: 213.740.5604
\nE-mail: mpastor@dornsife.usc.edu
\nBluesky: @profmpastor.bsky.social
\nTwitter: @Prof_MPastor<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n

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Professor Manuel Pastor<\/h2>\n
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Distinguished Professor, Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity
\n<\/span>Director, USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He currently directs the\u00a0Equity Research Institute<\/a>\u00a0at USC. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is the inaugural holder of the\u00a0Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change<\/a>\u00a0at USC.<\/p>\n

Pastor\u2019s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities \u2013 and the social movements seeking to change those realities. His most recent (2024) book, Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future<\/a> (co-authored with Chris Benner), delves into the pivotal role of California’s Lithium Valley in the “lithium gold rush” and its broader implications for climate challenges, justice, and democracy. In 2021, he published two new books, Solidarity Economics: Why Mutuality and Movements Matter<\/a>\u00a0(co-authored with Chris Benner) and\u00a0South Central Dreams: Finding Home and Building Community in South L.A.<\/a>\u00a0(co-authored with Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo). His previous 2018 book,\u00a0State of Resistance: What California’s Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America’s Future<\/em><\/a>\u00a0was lauded in a\u00a0New York Times review<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cconcise, clear and convincing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastor’s previous book,\u00a0Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America’s Metro Areas<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>co-authored with Chris Benner (UC Press 2015), argues how inequality stunts economic growth and how bringing together equity and growth requires concerted local action. Combining data, case studies, and narratives on multi-sector collaborations in 11 metro regions, the book offers a powerful prescription not just for metros but for our national challenges of slow job growth, rising economic inequality, and sharp political polarization. He also co-edited the book,\u00a0Unsettled Americans: Metropolitan Context and Civic Leadership for Immigrant Integration<\/a><\/em>\u00a0with John Mollenkopf (Cornell University Press 2016), which offers a comparative study and detailed analyses of immigrant incorporation efforts across seven different U.S. metro regions.<\/p>\n

His previous volumes include:\u00a0Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America\u2019s Metropolitan Regions<\/a><\/em>, co-authored with Chris Benner (Routledge 2012), advances the idea that growth and equity can and should be linked, offering a new path for a U.S. economy seeking to recover from economic crisis and distributional distress;\u00a0Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America\u2019s Future<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(W.W. Norton 2010; co-authored with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh),\u00a0 documents the gap between progress in racial attitudes and racial realities and offers a new set of strategies for both talking about race and achieving racial equity;\u00a0This Could Be the Start of Something Big: How Social Movements for Regional Equity are Transforming Metropolitan America<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Cornell University Press 2009; co-authored with Chris Benner and Martha Matsuoka) highlights a promising set of organizing efforts across the U.S.;\u00a0Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Russell Sage 2007, co-authored with Chris Benner and Laura Leete) which offers a critique of current employment strategies and argues for a new \u201chigh road\u201d approach to connecting demand and supply in labor markets; and\u00a0Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(University of Minnesota Press 2000; co-authored with Peter Dreier, Eugene Grigsby, and Marta Lopez-Garza), a book that has become a standard reference for those seeking to link neighborhoods and regions.<\/p>\n

Pastor was the founding director of the\u00a0Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community<\/a>\u00a0at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He\u00a0was also the Director at the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the\u00a0USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII). He has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations, and grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the W.T. Grant Foundation, The California Endowment, the California Air Resources Board, and many others.\u00a0 Pastor speaks frequently on issues of demographic change, economic inequality, and community empowerment and has contributed opinion pieces to such outlets including the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, and The Hill, among many others.<\/p>\n

In January 2002, he was awarded a Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award from the California Center for Regional Leadership. He has previously served as a Public Member of the Strategic Growth Council in California, as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California\u2019s Speaker of the State Assembly, and as a member of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee for the California Air Resources Board. Pastor received the Liberty Hill Foundation\u2019s\u00a0Wally Marks Changemaker of the Year<\/a> award for social justice research partnerships in 2012. He received the Champion for Equity Award from the Advancement Project in 2017 for his work with community-based organizations fighting for social change.\u00a0In 2022, Pastor was elected to the American Academy for the Arts and Sciences for his work in Public Affairs and Public Policy. \u00a0In recognition of his impactful work, in 2024, Pastor was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the region\u2019s most significant civic leaders in their inaugural series,\u00a0L.A. Influential<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In His Own Words: Professor Pastor \u2018speaks out\u2019 on his experiences with spasmodic dysphonia<\/h3>\n

Many people may be surprised to learn that even seasoned public speakers like Prof. Pastor struggle daily with a voice condition. In this piece, ERI Director, Manuel Pastor explains what spasmodic dysphonia is, how it impacts his life, and the strategies to help manage it so he can continue “speaking out” for inclusion and justice.<\/p>\n

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Spasmodic Dysphonia and Me
\nBy Manuel Pastor<\/h4>\n

I have spasmodic dysphonia.\u00a0 Basically, it\u2019s a neurological reaction where the muscles sort of twitch and tighten around your vocal chords \u2013 you can laugh, sing and shout (that all sounds joyful) but your regular speaking voice \u201cbreaks\u201d a lot and sounds strained\/hoarse. The \u201cstrangled voice\u201d can get worse and worse and some folks just kinda stop speaking.\u00a0 The onset can be triggered by a sinus infection or stress but it\u2019s neurological \u2013 so it’s really just lingering in you waiting for the trigger.<\/em><\/p>\n

I could describe it more but you can also just read about it at these links; it kind of describes my symptoms perfectly.<\/em><\/p>\n