Fellowship / Fellows

Juliet B. Schor

  • 2014–2015
  • Social Sciences
  • Matina S. Horner Distinguished Visiting Professor
  • Boston College
Headshot of Juliet B. Schor
Photo by Tony Rinaldo

This information is accurate as of the fellowship year indicated for each fellow.

Juliet B. Schor is a professor of sociology at Boston College (BC) and a member of the MacArthur Foundation–supported Connected Learning Research Network. Schor’s research focuses on issues of time use, consumption, and environmental sustainability. Her most recent books are about alternatives to carbon-intense lifestyles and the growth of new, low-impact forms of production and consumption.

During her fellowship year, Schor is writing a book on new consumer cultures and the “sharing economy.” The research consists of a series of case studies (interviews and participant observation) of sites such as a time bank, a food swap, and a maker space, as well as larger platforms such as Airbnb. The book will discuss the rise of ecological consciousness among participants, as well as motivations for participation and the social dynamics of new sharing practices.

Schor earned her PhD in economics and has taught in Harvard University’s Department of Economics. Schor’s books include the national best seller The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (Basic Books, 1991), The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer (Basic Books, 1998), Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (Scribner, 2004), and Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth (Penguin Press, 2010). She is a former Guggenheim Fellow and the recipient of a Herman Daly Award, a Leontief Prize, and a Public Understanding of Sociology Award. Schor is a cofounder of the Center for a New American Dream and organized the first Summer Institute in New Economics at BC. 

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