Philip Lewin

Curriculum Vitae

Philip Lewin

Associate Professor of Sociology

Phone: (561) 297-0261
Email: lewinp@fau.edu
Office: CU 260/Boca Campus

Research: Cultural and political conflicts; community responses to economic and environmental injustice; social movements; youth subcultures.

Teaching: Qualitative Research Methods; Sociological Theory; Cultural Sociology; Youth Subcultures; Political Economy of Culture; Sociology of Work

Philip Lewin is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair of the Sociology Department, and an Affiliate of FAU’s Center for Peace, Justice, and Human Rights. His current research focuses on housing insecurity in South Florida. He recently completed an Emergency Housing Study and Policy Response Analysis for the City of Lake Worth Beach, which examined the scope, causes, and consequences of housing distress across the city; analyzed the impacts of recent state legislation on local housing conditions; and provided policy recommendations to improve housing affordability, security, and equity.

Professor Lewin’s previous research has explored how energy market changes, mining-related pollution, population loss, government malfeasance, and opioid addiction have affected communities in Central Appalachia. His work documents the hardships created by these challenges, how communities have responded to them, and the factors that have influenced the success or failure of movements aimed at fostering positive social change.

In addition to his research on Appalachia, Professor Lewin has also studied youth subcultures. His research on punks and, more recently, on meme stock traders, examines how young people use subcultures to draw attention to their unmet needs, adapt to blocked opportunities, and critique the deficiencies they perceive in mainstream society.

At FAU, Professor Lewin teaches a variety of courses, including Sociology of Housing, Political Economy of Culture, Sociological Theory, Qualitative Research Methods, Youth Subcultures, Sociology of Work, Cultural Sociology, and more. He also coordinates the Department’s Workshop on Sociological Research alongside Dr. Phillip Hough, and he previously served as the Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Selected Works

Lewin, Philip. 2024. “Policy Recommendations for Improving Housing Access, Affordability, and Equity.” Report for the City of Lake Worth Beach, FL. March. 78 pages.

Lewin, Philip. 2023. “Florida Housing Policies: Impact Analysis and Strategic Approaches for Lake Worth Beach.” Report for the City of Lake Worth Beach, FL. November. 63 pages.

Lewin, Philip, Yanmei Li, and Carter Koppelman. 2023. “Social, Economic, and Housing Conditions in Lake Worth Beach.” Report for the City of Lake Worth Beach, FL. September. 210 pages.

Lewin, Philip. 2021. “‘Don’t Call Me White’ (Or Middle-Class): Constructing an Authentic Identity in Punk Subculture.” Pp. 89-106 in Studies on the Social Construction of Identity and Authenticity, edited by J. Patrick Williams and Kaylan Schwarz. London, UK: Routledge.

Lewin, Philip. 2020. “Reaching the Boiling Point: Energy and Climate Policy under the Trump Administration.” Pp. 235-263 in The Future of U.S. Empire in the Americas: The Trump Administration and Beyond, edited by Timothy M. Gill. New York, NY: Routledge. 

Lewin, Philip. 2019. “‘I Just Keep My Mouth Shut’: The Demobilization of Environmental Protest in Central Appalachia.” Social Currents 6(6): 534-552.

Lewin, Philip. [2017] 2019. “‘Coal is not just a Job; It’s a Way of Life’: The Cultural Politics of Coal Production in Central Appalachia.” Social Problems 66(1): 51-68.

Lewin, Philip. 2017. “Fighting King Coal: The Challenges to Micromobilization in Central Appalachia.” Contemporary Sociology 46(6): 657-65.

Lewin, Philip. 2016. “The Public Engagement Industry and the Future of Democratic Praxis.” Trajectories 28(1): 26-30.

Lewin, Philip. 2015. “Embodying the Postmodern Self: Ecstatic Ritual as a New Mode of Youth Identity Work.” Studies in Symbolic Interaction 44: 161-195.

Lewin, Philip. 2014. “Political Participation, Demobilization, and the Problem of Community Embeddedness.” States, Power, and Societies 20(1): 1-6.

Lewin, Philip. 2013. “Scenes, Subcultures and the 21st Century.” Symbolic Interaction 36(3): 365-369.

Lewin, Philip and Tim Gill. 2012. “Propagandhi and the Politics of Subcultural Resistance.” Pp. 391-415 in The Art of Social Critique: Painting Mirrors of Social Life, edited by Shawn Bingham. Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books.

Lewin, Philip and J. Patrick Williams. 2009. “The Ideology and Practice of Authenticity in Punk Subculture.” Pp. 65-83 in Authenticity in Self, Culture and Society, edited by Phillip Vannini and J. Patrick Williams. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.