In October, Nina Bandelj, UCI Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Sociology, was invited to deliver the British Journal of Sociology Annual Lecture. Held at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the keynote event features distinguished speakers in the field of sociology who are exploring significant questions and debates designed to stimulate inquiry into core concerns of the discipline and foundational institutions of social life.

An economic sociologist, Bandelj studies the social bases of economic processes, dispelling the assumption that the economy runs solely on the supply and demand rationale. She’s published more than 60 articles and book chapters and authored or edited six books. Her most recent - Money Talks - co-edited with Frederick Wherry and Viviana Zelizer, dives deeply into the topic of money; what it is, and how we make sense of it in an age when new currencies like Bitcoin and Apple Pay are gaining ground. She is currently president of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, for which she’s previously held the role of treasurer. She is a past vice president of the American Sociological Association (ASA), past chair of the Economic Sociology Section of ASA, and past editor of the Socio-Economic Review. In 2016, she was elected to the Sociological Research Association, a highly selective 400-person society of sociological scholars, where she now serves as Executive Board Member. In 2020, she was awarded the honorary title of professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Bandelj earned her Ph.D. at Princeton University and joined the UCI faculty in 2003. On campus, she serves as associate vice provost for faculty development. Previously, she served in leadership roles as co-director of the Center for Organizational Research, the equity advisor and acting associate dean for research and graduate studies in social sciences. She spearheaded the formation of the Social Sciences DECADE Council and is an active mentor to students on campus. She was recognized in 2017 as the Academic Senate’s Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Service recipient, highlighting her outstanding contributions to university and public service. In 2018, she received the Dynamic Womxn of UCI Academic Achievement Award and in 2021, the Carol Connor Equity Advisor Impact Award.

Her October lecture, “The Social Life of Money for Children,” examined how meaning, structure and politics jointly shape the flow of monies within households. Watch in full online at https://richmedia.lse.ac.uk/sociology/20230711_LSE20231016Money.mp4.

For a pre-interview featuring Bandelj and lecture moderator Rebecca Elliott, London School of Economics and Political Science associate professor of sociology and co-editor of the British Journal of Sociology, visit https://players.brightcove.net/3806881048001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6341541706112.