Welcome to the Department: Assistant Professor Whitney K. Taylor

The Department of Political Science is pleased to welcome Whitney K. Taylor, who will be joining UTM in Fall 2026 as an Assistant Professor.

Professor Taylor holds a PhD from Cornell University and comes to UTM from the Department of Political Science at San Francisco State University. Her work sits at the intersection of comparative politics, socio-legal studies, and public policy.

She is the author of The Social Constitution: Embedding Social Rights Through Legal Mobilization (Cambridge University Press, 2023), as well as two Cambridge Elements: Claim-Making in Comparative Perspective with Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner and Janice Gallagher, and Law, Mobilization, and Social Movements with Sidney Tarrow. The Social Constitution won the 2023 International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism Book Prize, and her article "On the Social Construction of Legal Grievances: Evidence from Colombia and South Africa" received the 2020 APSA Law and Courts Best Journal Article Award.

Professor Taylor's ongoing research explores backlash to criminal justice reform policies in the United States and the impact of rights education programs in South Africa. She has given invited presentations across the United States, Colombia, and Mexico, including at the Mexican Supreme Court's Center for Constitutional Studies.

We look forward to welcoming Professor Taylor to our community this fall!