Getting to know Heidi Gottfried

Heidi Gottfried received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin. She earned her M.A. and B.A. at the University of Michigan.

When did you begin teaching at Wayne State?

I started in 1999 as an associate professor, Labor Affairs, College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs. In 2003, I became the director of masters of arts in Industrial Relations Program. Since 2005, I’ve been associate professor of sociology.

What are your research interests?

Feminist theory; gender and work; comparative welfare states; labor movements; globalization.

Tell us about your current research.

Over the next few years, my research agenda includes completing a book on precarious work in Japan and articles reflecting collaborative cross-border initiatives. The overarching theme in my research is the complexity of work and welfare and the changing contours of labor in a historical and cross-national perspective. Whether a specific study involved quantitative analysis of large-scale datasets or qualitative interpretation of ethnographic field experiences, I have focused on an enduring question from classical and contemporary sociology: how structural inequalities are produced, and more specifically, how and why observed patterns of gender and class inequalities differ across nations and over time.

Recent publications

My recent book-length project, the Reproductive Bargain: Deciphering the Enigma of Japanese Capitalism reflects the culmination of research conducted over the past decade in Japan. I am currently co-editing The Sage Handbook on the Sociology of Work and Employment has also been released. The next stage of research agenda-setting will bring together cross-border research networks on precarious employment in Europe, North American and Japan.

Transnational flows of women workers, especially from poorer migrant-sending countries to wealthier migrant-receiving countries, raise critical questions about the dynamics of new forms of inequality, subordination, and commodification associated with globalized care chains. How do global hierarchies influence the patterns and characteristics of care migration? In what ways do changing demographics, institutional policies, and cultural practices affect the supply and provision of care across national borders? The sharing of ideas and findings will spark new collaborations and develop individual research projects in the future. predicated on typical ability and requisite for full citizenship.