About

Edward Walker is Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology at UCLA. His research focuses on the mobilization and outcomes of advocacy by both social movement organizations and business interests, particularly in the areas of environment and sustainability. Walker’s books and volumes include Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultants in American Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2014), Democratizing Inequalities: Dilemmas of the New Public Participation (with Caroline Lee and Michael McQuarrie, NYU Press, 2015), and Organizations and Climate Change (with Bodi Vasi, Emerald, 2026), and his articles appear in outlets including the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, and Academy of Management Review. A former fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford, a former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow at the University of Michigan, and a visiting scholar at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Walker’s research has been recognized with the Charles Tilly Award and several other awards from the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). His public engagements include co-chairing (alongside Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google) the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Net Zero, and he regularly advises and supports organizations seeking to foster engagement on sustainability, corporate political accountability, and general civic participation. His writing and commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, and other outlets.