James Petras, In Memorian

Born January 17, 1937, in Lynn, MA, Professor Petras was a Greek American who earned his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Joining Binghamton University in 1972, he became Bartle Professor of Sociology, a Professor Emeritus, and an adjunct professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. His Greek immigrant working-class upbringing shaped his lifelong dedication to class struggle, inequalities, and marginalized communities. Over decades of teaching, he mentored generations of students who went on to become scholars, activists, and community leaders.

Petras was an uncompromising voice for social justice across the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. His life’s work bridged the classroom, the written word, and the struggles of workers, peasants, and social movements, leaving a powerful intellectual and moral legacy. Petras was renowned for the breadth and volume of his writing, becoming one of the most prolific critical sociologists of his generation.

He authored over 62 books, translated into 29 languages, and published hundreds of academic articles in leading journals such as the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, Journal of Contemporary Asia, and Journal of Peasant Studies. He reached the broad public through more than 2,000 essays in outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, The Monthly Review, The New Left Review, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, Partisan Review, Canadian Dimension, Le Monde Diplomatique, La Jornada, his official website: https://petras.lahaine.org/ and https://radio36.com.uy His books were published by major presses including Random House, Wiley, Routledge, Macmillan, Verso, Zed Books, Pluto Press, and Clarity Press, reflecting the global impact of his ideas.

A leading expert on Latin American politics, he examined how neoliberalism, transnational capital, and U.S. foreign policy impacted society and political resistance movements, producing influential works including: Unmasking Globalization: Imperialism of the Twenty-First Century (2001); The Dynamics of Social Change in Latin America (2000), System in Crisis (2003), co-author Social Movements and State Power (2003), Empire with Imperialism (2005), co-author Multinationals on Trial (2006) and Rulers and Ruled in the U.S. Empire (2007).

Beyond academia, Petras engaged with leaders including Salvador Allende in Chile, Andreas Papandreou in Greece, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, and met with Fidel Castro in his later years. His commitment to social justice includes 11 years of work with the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement. In 1973-1976, he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. He believed that scholarship should support the struggles for justice, which influenced both his teaching and his extensive public engagements.

His distinguished career earned honors such as the Best Dissertation Award from the Western Political Science Association, the Lifetime Career Award from the American Sociological Association’s Marxist Sociology Section, and the Robert Kenny Award for Best Book.

Outside his scholarly life, he was a devoted father and grandfather, sharing his love of the Red Sox baseball team with his children, an avid fisherman who brought home stamps and coins from around the world. He enjoyed simple living, playing games and creating a robust garden for food consumption and the beauty of flowers. He is survived by Professor Elizabeth Petras, Stefan Petras, Anthippy Petras, Wendy Petras, Liam Petras, and Xana Petras-Roper. His collaborators and dear friends include Henry Veltmeyer, Morris Morley, Fred York and many, many more. James Petras is remembered with deep respect by students, colleagues, comrades, and readers worldwide for his fierce intellect, moral clarity, and enduring faith in social transformation.