A famend professor emeritus of sociology on the College of California, Berkeley, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Oakland, police confirmed Wednesday.
Michael Burawoy, 77, died whereas crossing a road close to Oakland’s Lake Merritt shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, police stated. The motive force of the SUV that struck him fled the scene and has but to be discovered.
Tributes to Burawoy poured in Wednesday, with colleagues and pals recalling him fondly as a groundbreaking sociologist and tireless advocate for his college students.
Raka Ray, the dean of social sciences at Berkeley, stated in an announcement to JHB that she was “reeling” from the information about Burawoy, who mentored her when she arrived on the college as an assistant professor. She known as his loss of life an “unimaginable loss.”
“Michael devoted 47 years of his life to Berkeley, contributing immeasurably to the self-discipline, reworking the fields of labor, ethnography and concept. He was previous president of the American Sociological Affiliation and the Worldwide Sociological Affiliation,” she stated.
“His best legacy, although, went far past the numerous books and articles he printed or prestigious awards he acquired ― it was within the folks whose lives he modified. He was a rare instructor, who mentored and impressed hundreds of scholars, altering their lives along with his fierce mind and kindness.”
The European Sociological Affiliation memorialized Burawoy as “the daddy of Public Sociology and a sociologist of immense integrity, ardour, kindness, and mental rigor.” The American Sociological Affiliation, which he as soon as led, stated its membership “mourns the sudden loss.”
The Worldwide Sociological Affiliation, one other group he as soon as led, known as his loss “immeasurable.”
“His boundless vitality, dedication to justice, and unwavering perception in sociology’s energy to rework the world will proceed to encourage us,” the group wrote in a social media submit. “His management and fervour formed ISA and left an enduring affect on the worldwide sociological neighborhood.”
As a distinguished sociologist, Burawoy wrote or co-authored a dozen books, together with “Manufacturing Consent: Adjustments within the Labor Course of Underneath Monopoly Capitalism” in 1979. He studied industrial workplaces in Zambia, Russia, Hungary and Chicago early in his profession earlier than pivoting to look at the educational office.
He was a vocal advocate of Palestinian freedom and stated he’d noticed a “rising erosion of educational freedom in Israel,” the place “universities are weaponized by the state.”
Berkeley made him a professor emeritus upon his retirement in 2023 and established an endowment In his identify.
Site visitors deaths, like that of Burawoy, are usually not unusual within the space. Final 12 months, town of Oakland agreed to pay out $3 million in settlements to the households of three folks killed in site visitors accidents.
Among the many fatalities was 41-year-old Dmitry Putilov, who was biking along with his two younger youngsters when a driver that had run a pink gentle slammed into him, killing him, after which fled. Putilov’s household filed a lawsuit in opposition to town claiming that harmful street situations ― together with a scarcity of velocity bumps, poor lighting and different preventable hazards ― contributed to his loss of life. The household is about to obtain $2.4 million from town.
In neighboring San Francisco, no less than 24 pedestrians had been killed final 12 months, up from 18 in 2023, the advocacy group Stroll SF reported.
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“That is the very best variety of pedestrian deaths in a decade in San Francisco, surpassing 2014,” the group stated. “There have now been 24 traffic-related pedestrian deaths in San Francisco in 2024, roughly 70% of complete traffic-related fatalities are pedestrians. Citywide, a median of 30 persons are killed and greater than 500 severely injured annually on San Francisco streets.”
Among the many San Francisco deaths final 12 months had been a 3-month-old and 2-year-old killed alongside their dad and mom in March.