Joshua K. Leon, Ph.D.

Dr. Leon is on leave for the 2022-23 academic year to serve as a research fellow at the New-York Historical Society.

Joshua K. Leon is chair of Political Science and International Studies. His book, "The Rise of Global Health: The Evolution of Effective Collective Action"  (SUNY Press) was released in 2015, earning a paperback release in 2016. He has written for scholarly venues including Third World Quarterly, Journal of Urban History, City, Planning Perspectives, Peace Review, Cities, and Cambridge Review of International Affairs. A doctorate in Political Science, he writes on global governance, development, poverty, global health, and urbanization. He has traveled in forty countries and territories on every inhabited continent, and lives in Manhattan.

Book:

• Joshua K. Leon. "The Rise of Global Health: The Evolution of Effective Collective Action" (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2015). Paperback edition released in January 2016.

Articles:

• “Global Cities in Analog: Modernism in Intercity Relations, 1900-1940, Journal of Urban History (first published August 11, 2021).
• “The Global Governance of Housing: 1945-2016,” Planning Perspectives. August 2020.
• “Global Cities at any Cost: Resisting Municipal Mercantilism,” City 21 (1) March 2017.
• “The Role of Global Cities in Land Grabs,” Third World Quarterly 36 (2) March 2015.
• “Why is the World Bank Financing Forced Evictions?” Peace Review 26 (2) June 2014.
• “Confronting Catastrophe: Norms, Efficiency and the Evolution of the AIDS Battle in the UN.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 24 (3) September 2011.
• “Perspectives on Chinese Urbanization.” Cities 28 (3) June 2011.

Selected popular writing:

• “Telecommuting and the Post-Pandemic City,” The Progressive (May 27, 2021).
• “Nations Fight Extreme Patenting to Ensure Access to COVID-19 Relief,” The Progressive (May 19, 2020).
• “The Pandemic and Poor Countries,” The Progressive (March 30, 2020), syndicated for Tribune News Service and MSN News.
• “House of Cards: Ben Carson Builds of HUD’s Long Shaky Foundation,” The Progressive (June/July, 2018). Cover feature.
• “Sanctuary Cities in an Age of Resistance,” The Progressive (March, 2017). Cover feature.
• “Beyond the ‘World of 70′: Inequality and the 2030 Development Goals,” Dissent (December 17, 2013).
• “Make Way for High Rises: Who Benefits From Slum Demolitions in Mumbai?” Dissent (March 13, 2013).

Joshua K. Leon is chair of Political Science and International Studies. He has also taught at Villanova, Temple and Drexel Universities. He has recently written for venues including The Chicago Tribune, The Progressive, Dissent, Third World Quarterly, City, Journal of Urban History, Planning Perspectives, Metropolis, Peace Review, The China Beat, Cities, Brooklyn Rail, Monthly Review, The Normal School, Asia Times, Epoch Times, Foreign Policy in Focus, Arch Daily, Urban Omnibus, and Cambridge Review of International Affairs. He was author of the “World Watch” column for Next City from 2008-2011. In 2010, he covered the Shanghai World Expo for Next City magazine and Foreign Policy In Focus.

His book, "The Rise of Global Health: The Evolution of Effective Collective Action," was released in 2015, with a paperback release in 2016. The book analyzes how major actors such as the World Health Organization and World Bank fostered an expanded global health regime, aggressively addressing the health-related aspects of globalization. A uniformly positive review in International Affairs said the book makes “important advances towards the promulgation of a ‘smart global health’ paradigm.” According to CHOICE, “this excellent analysis of key actors in global health and how their activities affect the transnational governance of public health will be invaluable to policy makers and those interested in public health. Highly recommended.” The book is cited in venues ranging from Development and Change and International Political Sociology to the British Medical Journal.

He is currently working on a book manuscript (140,000 words) titled "World Cities in History: Power and Statecraft in City Life From Uruk to Amsterdam."

A doctorate in Political Science, he writes on global governance, development, poverty, global health, and urbanization. He lives in Manhattan.

Visit www.joshualeon.com to learn more

• Senior Seminar: Land, Power, and Politics
• The Politics of Global Health
• The Politics of Global Development
• Global Cities and the Environment
• Freshman Seminar: Politics of New York City
• Introduction to American Government
• Introduction to Global Politics
• Political Science Capstone
• Political Science Research Methods
• The Public Policy Process
• International Politics in Film
• Contemporary Global Politics