Bio
Martin Orr earned his Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Oregon in 1992. His dissertation documented the effects of the civil rights movement upon the development of sociological theories of race and ethnicity. He has continued to explore the historical and political context of theories of society, and has published around issues of capitalist crisis, neoliberal globalization, social inequality, social movements, the environmental and societal impact of fossil fuels, and the mass media.
Publications
His publications include:
Orr, Martin and Ginna Husting. 2018. “Media Marginalization of Racial Minorities: ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ in U.S. Ghettos and on the ‘Arab Street’.” Pp. 82-93 in Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, edited by Joseph Uscinski. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Orr, Martin and M R. X. Denith. 2018. “Clearing up Some Conceptual Confusions about Conspiracy Theory Theorizing.” Pp. 141-53 in Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously, edited by M R. X. Dentith. London: Rowman & Littlefield.
Dentith, M R. X. and Martin Orr. 2018. “Conspiracy and Secrecy.” Episteme 15(4):433-450.
Orr, Martin. 2017. “Karl Mannheim and the Sociology of Knowledge.” Pp. 89-97 in An Introduction to Classical and Contemporary Social Theory: A Critical Perspective, edited by Berch Berberoglu. UK: Routledge.
Orr, Martin. 2014. “The Global Capitalist Crisis and the End of Empire.” Pp. 297-312 in The Global Capitalist Crisis and Its Aftermath: The Causes and Consequences of the Great Recession of 2008-2009, edited by Berch Berberoglu. Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing.
Husting, Ginna and Martin Orr. 2007. “Dangerous Machinery: ‘Conspiracy Theorist’ as a Transpersonal Strategy of Exclusion.” Symbolic Interaction 3(2):127-150.
He teaches widely in the discipline, most recently Introduction to Sociology, Theories of Society, Social Statistics, Environmental Sociology, Social Inequality, Political Sociology, Radical Sociology, and the Sociology of Work.
Dr. Orr is Director of the Sociology Department’s Labor Studies Minor, Past president of the Boise State University Faculty Senate, and Vice president of the American Federation of Teachers Local 3537.