Affiliated and Emeriti Faculty

John Williamson

Professor Emeritus

Photo of John Williamson

John Williamson

Ph.D.

Contact

McGuinn Hall 424

Telephone: 617-552-8530

Email: john.williamson.1@bc.edu

ORCID

Education

  • Ph.D., Harvard University
  • SB (aka BS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Interests

  • Sociology of aging and the life course/social gerontology
  • Comparative social security policy
  • The medical aid in dying movement聽
  • The politics of aging/the political economy of aging
  • Ageism/aging and inequality/older workers/aging and technology
  • Cross-national social indicator research dealing with such issues as inequality, status of women, quality of life/well being, infant/child mortality, life expectancy, corruption, and suicide.

Office Hours

By appointment

Department

Sociology

Biography

John B. Williamson is currently a professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology at 艾可直播 College. He is also an affiliated researcher at the . His bachelor degree is from MIT and his Ph.D. is from Harvard University聽

Between 2011 and 2016 he served as an associate editor of The Gerontologist and has served on the editorial board for a total of nine journals.听

He is the author, co-author, or editor of 18 books and approximately 170 articles published in professional journals or edited anthologies. He has presented professional papers in 18 countries and has published books and articles in 7 foreign languages.

In recent years his research has focused on trends in ageism, social security and pension policy in the United States and many other countries around the world, particularly China. He has given particular attention to the actual and the proposed partial privatization of social security schemes. His past research deals with such topics as the politics of aging, the senior rights movement, the debate over generational equity and generational accounting. He has also authored or co-authored many articles based cross-national aggregate data dealing with such topics as: life expectancy, infant mortality, environmental degradation, suicide rates, homicide rates, women鈥檚 status, and corruption. His most recent work involves an analysis of the acceptance of the practice of physician aid in dying in nine states in the United states as well as six other countries around the world.听

PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS

Appointed Associate Editor for Policy Studies,聽The Gerontologist, 2011-2016.

Elected Member, Executive Board, Research Committee on the Sociology of Aging (RC11), International Sociological Association, 2010-2014.

Elected Chair, Social Research, Policy, and Practice Section, Gerontological Society of America, 2007.

Elected Secretary/Treasurers, Section on Aging and the Life Course, American Sociological Association, 1996.

Elected Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America, 2001.

Elected to membership in the National Academy of Social Insurance, 1991.

Elected Chair, Youth, Aging and Life Course Division, Society for the Study of Social Problems, 1984.

Publications

(PARTIAL LISTING)

McNamara, Tay K. and John B. Williamson. 2019.听Ageism: Past, Present, and Future聽New York: Routledge.

Wang, Xinmei, John B. Williamson, and Mehmet Cansoy. 2016. "Developing Countries and Systemic Pension Reforms: Reflections on Some Emerging Problems,"聽International Social Security Review聽69(2): 85-106.

Williamson, John B. and Daniel B茅land. 2016. 鈥淭he Future of Retirement Security in Comparative Perspective.鈥� Pp. 461-481 in聽Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, (8th edition) Edited by Linda K. George and Kenneth F. Ferraro. San Diego: Academic Press.

McNamara, Tay and John B. Williamson. 2013.听Unequal Prospects: Is Working Longer the Answer?聽New York: Routledge.

Williamson, John B., Meghan Price, and Ce Shen. 2012. 鈥淧ension Policy in China, Singapore, and South Korea: An Assessment of the Potential Value of the Notional Defined Contribution Model.鈥澛�.

Williamson, John B. and Anna Rhodes. 2011. 鈥淎 Critical Assessment of Generational Accounting and Its Contribution to the Generational Equity Debate.鈥澛�.

Williamson, John B., Ce Shen, and Yinan Yang. 2009. 鈥淲hich Pension Model Holds the Most Promise for China: A Funded Defined Contribution Scheme, A Notional Defined Contribution Scheme, or a Universal Social Pension?鈥澛�The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice聽17 (2): 101-111.

Williamson, John B., Stephanie A. Howling and Michelle Maroto. 2006. "The Political Economy of Pension Reform in Russia: Why Partial Privatization?"聽Journal of Aging Studies聽20 (2): 165-175.

Williamson, John B. and Matthew Williams. 2005. "Notional Defined Contribution Accounts: Neoliberal Ideology and the Political Economy of Pension Reform."聽.

Williamson, John B., Diane M. Watts-Roy, and Eric R. Kingson, eds. 1999.听The Generational Equity Debate.听.

Williamson, John B. and Fred C. Pampel. 1998. "Does the Privatization of Social Security Make Sense for Developing Nations."聽International Social Security Review听51(4):3-31.

Williamson, John B. and Fred C. Pampel. 1993.听Old Age Security in Comparative Perspective.听. Received special mention in the 1994 Alpha Sigma Nu National Book Award competition. In 2002 was published in Chinese by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Pampel, Fred C. and John B. Williamson. 1989.听Age, Class, Politics, and the Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This book was selected by the American Sociological Association for inclusion in the Rose Monograph Series.

Pampel, Fred C. and John B. Williamson. 1988. "Welfare Spending in Advanced Industrial Democracies."聽American Journal of Sociology听93:1424-1456.

Pampel, Fred C. and John B. Williamson. 1985. "Age, Structure, Politics, and Cross-National Patterns of Public Pension Expenditures."聽American Sociological Review聽December 50:782-799.

Williamson, John B., Judith A. Shindul and Linda Evans. 1985.听Aging and Public Policy: Social Control or Social Justice?聽Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.

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