James Midgley

Job title: 
Professor of the Graduate School and Dean Emeritus
Bio/CV: 

James Midgley is Professor of the Graduate School and Dean Emeritus of the School of Social Welfare. He served as Dean from 1997 to 2006 and was the Harry and Riva Specht Professor of Public Social Services from 1997 to 2016 when he retired from full-time academic work. Originally from South Africa, he studied at the University of Cape Town where he trained as a social worker and completed a master and doctorate in sociology. He subsequently joined the faculty teaching sociology, social policy and social work. In 1970, he won a prestigious campus award to study at the London School of Economics (LSE) where he completed a master’s degree in social policy. In 1972, he joined School’s faculty and where he helped establish the first program in social policy and planning for developing countries. In 1985, he immigrated to the United States and joined Louisiana State University (LSU), serving as Professor and Dean of the School of Social Work and subsequently as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. He came to Berkeley as Dean in 1997.

An authority on international social welfare, he is regarded as a pioneer in international social welfare scholarship, with particular reference to social policy and social development in the Global South. His major interests are in international social welfare, social development, social protection, and in global poverty and inequality. 

His major books include Professional Imperialism: Social Work in the Third World (Heinemann, 1981); Social Security, Inequality and the Third World (Wiley, 1984); Comparative Social Policy and the Third World co-authored with Stewart MacPherson (Harvester, Press 1987) The Social Dimensions of Development: Social Policy and Planning in the Third World co-authored with Margaret Hardiman (Wiley, 1982); Social Development: The Developmental Perspective in Social Welfare (Sage, 1995); Social Welfare in Global Context (Sage, 1997); Social Policy for Development co-authored with Anthony Hall (Sage, 2004); Social Development: Theory and Practice (Sage, Social Welfare for a Global Era: International Perspectives on Policy and Practice (Sage, 2017) and Inequality, Social Protection and Social Justice (Elgar, 2020). His latest book, Advanced Introduction to Social Protection was published by Elgar in 2022.

Research interests: 
  • Community, Organizational and Policy Development
  • Development
  • Social Development
  • Social Policy
  • Community Development
  • International Social Welfare
  • Global Poverty and Inequality