Daniel Aldana Cohen
Appointment
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023
Innovation, Equity, & The Future of Prosperity
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About
Daniel Aldana Cohen is a sociologist who studies climate politics through the lenses of urban studies, political sociology, political economy, and the social science of climate change. He conducts comparative qualitative research on social movements and elite climate policymaking in the United States and Brazil; he leads a quantitative project on Whole Community Climate Mapping; his is developing the concept of eco-apartheid through quantitative mapping, qualitative policy-tracing, and social theory. And he conducts policy research in support on the Green New Deal idea, with a focus on the built environment.
Cohen’s research is driven by basic questions: Under what conditions do strong political coalitions that support low-carbon policies arise? How can we link the histories of racial capitalism, colonialism, and the climate emergency? To what extent do political actors’ responses to extreme weather disasters linked to climate change make it easier to decarbonize? What is the most equitable, practical pathway for decarbonization and adaptation?
Awards
- Member, Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Social Science. Princeton, New Jersey. 2018-19
Relevant Publications
Cohen, D. A. (2020). New York City as ‘fortress of solitude’ after Hurricane Sandy: A relational sociology of extreme weather’s relationship to climate politics. Environmental Politics, 1-21. doi:10.1080/09644016.2020.1816380
Cohen, D.A. (2020). Confronting the urban climate emergency: critical urban studies in the age of a Green New Deal. City: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, Action. (24)1-2 (February-April 2020), 52-64. doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1739435
Aronoff, K., Battistoni, A., Cohen, D. A., & Riofrancos, T. (2019). A planet to win: why we need a Green New Deal. Verso Books.
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