A famend professor emeritus of sociology on the College of California, Berkeley, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Oakland, police confirmed Wednesday.
Michael Burawoy, 77, died whereas crossing a road close to Oakland’s Lake Merritt shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, police stated. The motive force of the SUV that struck him fled the scene and has but to be discovered.
Tributes to Burawoy poured in Wednesday, with colleagues and pals recalling him fondly as a groundbreaking sociologist and tireless advocate for his college students.
Raka Ray, the dean of social sciences at Berkeley, stated in an announcement to HuffPost that she was “reeling” from the information about Burawoy, who mentored her when she arrived on the college as an assistant professor. She referred to as his dying an “unimaginable loss.”
“Michael devoted 47 years of his life to Berkeley, contributing immeasurably to the self-discipline, reworking the fields of labor, ethnography and principle. He was previous president of the American Sociological Affiliation and the Worldwide Sociological Affiliation,” she stated.
“His best legacy, although, went far past the various books and articles he printed or prestigious awards he acquired ― it was within the folks whose lives he modified. He was a unprecedented trainer, who mentored and impressed hundreds of scholars, altering their lives along with his fierce mind and kindness.”
The European Sociological Affiliation memorialized Burawoy as “the daddy of Public Sociology and a sociologist of immense integrity, ardour, kindness, and mental rigor.” The American Sociological Affiliation, which he as soon as led, stated its membership “mourns the sudden loss.”
The Worldwide Sociological Affiliation, one other group he as soon as led, referred to as his loss “immeasurable.”
“His boundless vitality, dedication to justice, and unwavering perception in sociology’s energy to remodel the world will proceed to encourage us,” the group wrote in a social media put up. “His management and keenness formed ISA and left a long-lasting impression on the worldwide sociological group.”
As a outstanding sociologist, Burawoy wrote or co-authored a dozen books, together with “Manufacturing Consent: Modifications within the Labor Course of Beneath Monopoly Capitalism” in 1979. He studied industrial workplaces in Zambia, Russia, Hungary and Chicago early in his profession earlier than pivoting to look at the tutorial office.
He was a vocal advocate of Palestinian freedom and stated he’d noticed a “rising erosion of educational freedom in Israel,” the place “universities are weaponized by the state.”
Berkeley made him a professor emeritus upon his retirement in 2023 and established an endowment In his title.
Site visitors deaths, like that of Burawoy, will not be unusual within the space. Final 12 months, the town of Oakland agreed to pay out $3 million in settlements to the households of three folks killed in site visitors accidents.
Among the many fatalities was 41-year-old Dmitry Putilov, who was biking along with his two younger youngsters when a driver that had run a crimson gentle slammed into him, killing him, after which fled. Putilov’s household filed a lawsuit in opposition to the town claiming that harmful highway situations ― together with a scarcity of pace bumps, poor lighting and different preventable hazards ― contributed to his dying. The household is ready to obtain $2.4 million from the town.
In neighboring San Francisco, at the very least 24 pedestrians have been killed final 12 months, up from 18 in 2023, the advocacy group Stroll SF reported.
Go Advert-Free — And Shield The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to cover these messages.
“That is the best variety of pedestrian deaths in a decade in San Francisco, surpassing 2014,” the group stated. “There have now been 24 traffic-related pedestrian deaths in San Francisco in 2024, roughly 70% of complete traffic-related fatalities are pedestrians. Citywide, a mean of 30 individuals are killed and greater than 500 severely injured annually on San Francisco streets.”
Among the many San Francisco deaths final 12 months have been a 3-month-old and 2-year-old killed alongside their mother and father in March.
