John B. Williamson

John B. Williamson is a Professor of Sociology and an internationally known scholar in gerontology, social policy and social welfare. Prof. Williamson is also affiliated with the University’s Center for Retirement Research. He joined the faculty at BC in 1969 after completing his Ph.D. in social psychology at Harvard University. Over the course of his career professor Williamson has published 16 books and well over 100 journal articles and book chapters.

A core area of Professor Williamson’s research has been social policy and aging. He has written widely on questions surrounding social security, the generational equity debate, and the senior movement. This work has been published in such journals as: International Social Security Review, The Gerontologist, Research on Aging, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Generations, and Journal of Aging Studies. His writing has contributed to the debate over the proposed partial privatization of Social Security in the United States and to the corresponding debate internationally. He has been a central contributor to the literature on the Notional Defined Contribution model as an alternative to funded individual accounts, particularly for developing countries such as China. His writing on the generational equity debate clarifies what is a fair distribution across generations with respect to the allocation of pensions and health care benefits and burdens. As a leading sociologist in the field, he has raised sociological and equity issues not highlighted by economists.

Of particular note has been his work in connection with the debate about recent pension policy reforms in China. His co-authored book (with Fred Pampel) entitled Old Age Security in Comparative Perspective (Oxford University Press, 1993) was translated into Chinese by the staff of the National Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing in 2002. Several of his articles have also been published in Chinese. His work has raised critical issues with respect to the viability of funded individual accounts for China and other nations at a similar level of economic development. He has proposed alternatives based on the Notional Defined Contribution (NDC) model that do not subject workers’ pensions to the fluctuations in financial markets. His work on these and related matters has also been translated into Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, German, French, and Spanish.

Professor Williamson has also written widely on cross-national social indicator research. This writing includes his co-authored book (with Fred Pampel) entitled Age, Class, Politics, and the Welfare State (Cambridge University Press, 1989) which was selected by the American Sociological Association for inclusion in the prestigious Rose monograph series. In addition, his many journal articles on social indicators have been published in such journals as The American Sociological Review, The American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Problems, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Social Science and Medicine, Social Indicators Research, Sociological Inquiry, Sociological Perspectives, and Comparative Social Research. This writing addresses such topics as cross-national differences in pension policy, life expectancy, income distribution, social welfare effort, quality of life, child mortality, government corruption levels, as well as environmental sustainability and degradation.

Earlier in his career Professor Williamson addressed questions around poverty, social problems, and corresponding policy initiatives. This work is reflected in the following book titles: Thinking about Poverty in the U.S., Poverty and Public Policy, Social Problems: The Contemporary Debates, and Strategies against Poverty in America.

Professor Williamson has been very active in a range of professional societies and organizations. In 2007-2008 he served as Vice President of the Gerontological Society of America. At the same time he was chair of the society’s section on Social Research, Policy and Practice. He currently serves as an elected member of the Executive Board, of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on the Sociology of Aging. In 1991 he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Social Insurance. He has also been elected as the Secretary/Treasurer of the American Sociological Association’s Section on the Sociology of Aging and the Life Course. In addition, he has been elected Chair for the Society for the Study of Social Problems’ section on Youth, Aging and the Life Course and its section on Poverty, Class and Inequality. Professor Williamson has also offered testimony at hearings held by the Advisory Council on Social Security.

BOOK PUBLICATIONS

Gray, Paul S., John B. Williamson, David A. Karp, John Dalphin, Karen Bettez Halnon, and James Carritte. 2007. The Research Imagination. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Aging, Social Security, Generational Equity, Senior Movement

Williamson, John B., Diane M. Watts-Roy and Eric R. Kingson, eds. 1999. TheGenerational Equity Debate. New York: Columbia University Press.

Powell, Lawrence A., Kenneth J. Branco and John B. Williamson. 1996. The Senior Rights Movement: Framing the Policy Debate in America. New York: Twayne Publishers.

Williamson, John B. and Edwin S. Shneidman, eds. 1995. Death: Current Perspectives. 4th ed. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company.

Williamson, John B. and Fred C. Pampel. 1993. Old Age Security in ComparativePerspective. New York: Oxford University Press. This book receivedspecial mention in the 1994 Alpha Sigma Nu National Book Award competition.

Wallace, Steven P. and John B. Williamson. 1992. The Senior Movement. New York: G.K. Hall (Macmillan).

Pampel, Fred C. and John B. Williamson. 1989. Age, Class, Politics, and the Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Williamson, John B., Judith A. Shindul and Linda Evans. 1985. Aging and PublicPolicy: Social Control or Social Justice? Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.

Williamson, John B., Linda Evans, Lawrence A. Powell and Sharlene Hesse-Biber. 1982. The Politics of Aging: Power and Policy. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.

Johnson, Elizabeth S. and John B. Williamson. 1980. Growing Old. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Williamson, John B., Linda Evans, Anne Munley, Barbara H. Vinick and SharleneHesse-Biber. 1980. Aging and Society. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Poverty, Social Problems, Research Methods

Woods, Daniel W. and John B. Williamson. 1988. Thinking about Poverty in the U.S.: Problems and Policies. New York: Walker and Company.

Morris, Michael and John B. Williamson. 1986. Poverty and Public Policy: An Analysis of Federal Intervention Efforts. New York: Greenwood Press.

Williamson, John B., Linda Evans and Michael Rustad, eds. 1985. Social Problems: The Contemporary Debates. 4th ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Williamson, John B., David A. Karp, John R. Dalphin, Paul S. Gray, Stephen T. Barry, and Richard S. Dorr. 1982. The Research Craft. 2nd ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Willamson, John B., Jerry F. Boren, Frank J. Mifflen, Nancy A. Cooney, Linda Evans, Michael F. Foley, Richard Steinman, Jody Garber, Nancy Theberge and Donna J. B. Turek. 1975. Strategies against Poverty in America. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

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