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{{short description|American sociologist}}

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| birth_place = New Jersey| death_date = | death_place = | citizenship = American| nationality = | ethnicity = | fields = Sociology| workplaces = University of Sydney| alma_mater = University of Montevallo (BS) }}Salvatore Babones (born October 5, 1969) is an American sociologist, and an associate professor at the University of Sydney.

Biography

Babones received a B.S. in sociology from University of Montevallo in 1991, M.A. in Sociology in 1997, M.S.E in Mathematical Sciences in 2002, and a Ph.D. in Sociology in 2003 from Johns Hopkins University.From 2003 to 2008 he was a professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh; and since 2008, at the University of Sydney. He has also been a visiting associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (2015) and a visiting scholar at Academia Sinica in Taipei (2015).Biography on official homepage

Work and views

Babones focuses on the “political sociology of democracy, economic development in post-socialist transition economies and quantitative methods for cross-national comparisons�.WEB, 2023-03-02, Babones, Salvatore,in.sagepub.com/en-in/sas/author/salvatore-j-babones, 2023-03-17, SAGE India, en, WEB, Salvatore Babones,www.sydney.edu.au/arts/about/our-people/academic-staff/staff-profile.html, 2023-03-17, The University of Sydney, en-AU,

BRICS Economies

Salvatore Babones and Hartmut Elsenhans in their book BRICS or Bust? Escaping the Middle-Income Trap compares the social, economic, and political trajectories of BRICS countries over the year. They argue that these countries are stuck in a middle-income trap, which was caused by the inequalities generated during their early development; this caused consumption to shift inefficiently towards luxury goods, preventing the continued growth in mass income. Babones concludes that BRICS counties can catch up with high-income countries only if their political leaders pursue growth strategies that benefit the entire population.JOURNAL, Bhoi, Barendra Kumar, Can BRICS countries escape the middle-income trap?, Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, 2 September 2019, 12, 3, 293–296, 10.1080/17520843.2019.1615970, 197830200, BOOK, 10.1515/9781503604919, BRICS or Bust?, 2020, Elsenhans, Hartmut, Babones, Salvatore, 978-1-5036-0491-9, 241814048, Political scientist BM Jain found the book to be a “must read� — it was a “distinctive contribution� to the understanding of BRICS economies.JOURNAL, Jain, B.M., Elsenhans, Hartmut, Babones, Salvatore, Review of BRICS or Bust?: Escaping the Middle-Income Trap, Elsenhans Hartmut, Babones Salvatore, Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, 2017, 30, 1/2, 97–99, 26465821,

American Tianxia

In his 2017 book, American Tianxia: Chinese money, American power, and the end of history, Babones questions the narrative of the 21st century being a Chinese Century. He argues that the Chinese concept of Tianxia is most suitable to describe the tremendous influence of the United States in International politics. The American Tianxia is a global club that elites worldwide want to join. The United States has the world’s largest economy, a powerful military, and the world’s reserve currency. According to him, this centrality of the United States in International affairs would prevent China from ever dominating it.JOURNAL, Grell-Brisk, Marilyn, American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power, and the End of History, Journal of World-Systems Research, 3 September 2019, 25, 2, 503–507, 10.5195/jwsr.2019.936, 203107710, free, WEB, P. Sempa, Francis, 2017-07-26, American Tianxia: What If This Isn’t the Chinese Century?,thediplomat.com/2017/07/american-tianxia-what-if-this-isnt-the-chinese-century/, 2023-04-28, The Diplomat, en-US,

United States and Trump

In 2018, Babones published The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts on Donald Trump and his administration. Lacking in sources and notes, he did not intend it to be an academic monograph but rather a political screed.WEB, Interview with Salvatore Babones on his book “The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts�, Inside Higher Ed,www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/09/28/interview-salvatore-babones-his-book-%E2%80%9C-new-authoritarianism-trump-populism-and, 2022-11-05, en, Babones welcomed Trump’s populist approach to governance as a dissent against the usual “tyranny of unelected authoritarian experts� in liberal democracies. Rejecting allegations of authoritarianism, he found Trump’s administration effective and credited Trump with strengthening democratic ideals by returning power to the electorate.NEWS, Swaim, Barton, 2018-12-07, Books on Politics: Best of 2018, en-US, Wall Street Journal,www.wsj.com/articles/books-on-politics-best-of-2018-1544190105, 2021-02-19, 0099-9660, NEWS,www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/janet-albrechtsen/trump-takes-on-the-experts-to-save-democracy/news-story/79bc6a0238d3944be6e9fceb637e16af, Trump takes on the experts to save democracy, Albrechtsen, Janet, 21 November 2018, The Australian, On the overall, populism was a legitimate political position in liberal democracy.BOOK, Heide, Markus, Populism, Democracy, and the Humanities: Interdisciplinary Explorations and Critical Enquiries, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2022, 978-1-5381-6091-6, Cananau, Iulian, 145–146, en, Populism and the Politics of the Media Spectacle in the US: The Imagery of the US-Mexico Border, Thalen, Peder, Markus Heide of Uppsala University found{{clarify|date=September 2023}} Babones’ “apologetic approach� to ignore the anti-democratic rhetoric of Trump and his supporters. Dan Glazebrook, reviewing for socialist newspaper The Morning Star, found the work to be an exercise in “Trumpian obfuscation�.WEB, 2018-11-13, ‘Trumpian obfuscation at its finest’,morningstaronline.co.uk/article/trumpian-obfuscation-its-finest, 2022-11-05, Morning Star, en, However, the book was favorably received in conservative media: Janet Albrechtsen, reviewing for The Australian, commended Babones for an “overdue ... corrective about populism�; it went on to feature in the ‘Best [Books] on Politics 2018’ by the Wall Street Journal.Babones has since held the January 6 United States Capitol attack to be a “mostly peaceful protest�;WEB, Towell, Kishor Napier-Raman, Noel, 2022-08-01, Former prime minister Tony Abbott to speak on Indian democracy at Centre for Independent Studies,www.smh.com.au/national/all-hail-tony-abbott-globe-trotting-expert-of-everything-20220801-p5b6ct.html, 2022-12-25, The Sydney Morning Herald, en, he argued that Joe Biden was still a bigger threat to democracy on account of being supported by the press.JOURNAL, Boone, Gloria M., Taylor, Mary Anne, Gallant, Linda, International Reactions to the Capitol Attack of January 6th: A Media Frames Analysis, American Behavioral Scientist, May 2023, 67, 6, 784–806, 10.1177/00027642221091214, 248647298,

India

In September 2022, Babones criticized the democracy indices by Freedom House, V-Dem Institute, and Economist Intelligence Unit for their decision to downgrade India while under Narendra Modi’s premiership and called for a retraction; noting their evidence to be flawed and “wildly disproportionate�, he blamed the intellectuals who were surveyed for not being objective in their evaluations.WEB, 2022-09-16, Exclusive {{!, Western Analysts Insult India for Petty Partisan Political Game: Salvatore Babones to News18 |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/exclusive-western-analysts-insult-india-for-petty-partisan-political-game-salvatore-babones-to-news18-5967115.html |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=News18 |language=en}}WEB, Babones, Salvatore, 2022-09-14, Why India’s democracy ranking should be taken with a grain of salt,theprint.in/opinion/why-indias-democracy-ranking-should-be-taken-with-a-grain-of-salt/1127765/, 2022-11-21, ThePrint, en-US, Two months later, in a conclave arranged by India Today, speaking on the same locus, Babones accused the Indian intellectuals of being “anti-India and anti-Modi as a class� in remarks that were widely shared in the social media.WEB, Bhardwaj, Ananya, 2022-11-07, Sociologist who called Indian intellectuals ‘anti-India’ listed as ‘foreign agent’ in US, Australia,theprint.in/india/sociologist-who-called-indian-intellectuals-anti-india-listed-as-foreign-agent-in-us-australia/1202117/, 2022-11-16, ThePrint, en-US, WEB, Usmani, Aban, 8 November 2022, Meet Salvatore Babones, the American academic who called Indian intellectuals ‘anti-India’,www.newslaundry.com/2022/11/08/meet-salvatore-babones-the-american-academic-who-called-indian-intellectuals-anti-india, Newslaundry,

Immigrant students in Australia

His research into Australian universities’ dependence on international (particularly Chinese) students drove political debates in the country.WEB, 2019-08-20, Australian universities risk catastrophe due to over-reliance on Chinese students, expert warns,www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-21/australian-universities-too-dependent-on-chinese-students-report/11427272, 2021-02-19, www.abc.net.au, en-AU, WEB, Hondros, Nathan, 2020-06-28, WA universities face ‘day of reckoning’ with risk Chinese students might never return,www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-universities-face-day-of-reckoning-with-risk-chinese-students-might-never-return-20200624-p555ux.html, 2021-02-19, WAtoday, en, WEB, Over-reliance on Chinese students putting Australian universities at risk, report warns,www.sbs.com.au/news/over-reliance-on-chinese-students-putting-australian-universities-at-risk-report-warns, 2021-02-19, SBS News, en,

Books

• Babones, S. (2009). The International Structure of Income: Its Implications for Economic Growth. Saarbruecken: VDM Verlag Dr Muller. {{ISBN|978-3639101591}}
• Esteva, G., Babones, S., Babcicky, P. (2013). The Future of Development: A Radical Manifesto. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.{{ISBN|978-1447301080}}
• Babones, S. (2014). Methods for Quantitative Macro-Comparative Research. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.{{ISBN|978-1412974950}}
• Babones, S. (2015). Sixteen for ‘16: A Progressive Agenda for a Better America. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.{{ISBN|978-1447324409}}
• Elsenhans, H., and Babones, S. (2017). BRICS or Bust? Escaping the Middle-Income Trap. Stanford: Stanford University Press.{{ISBN|978-0804799898}}
• Babones, S. (2017). American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power, and the End of History. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.{{ISBN| 978-1447336808}}

• Babones, S. (2018). The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts. Cambridge, UK: Polity.{{ISBN|978-1509533091}}

• Babones, S. (2021). Australia’s Universities: Can They Reform? Brisbane: Ocean Reeve Publishing.{{ASIN|B09N8MTJGH}}

References

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External links

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