Arthur B. Shostak is an American sociologist and futurist, and former professor of sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 at Drexel University

Drexel University

Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...

. His research areas include futuristics, the history and future of the American work force, organized labor, industrial sociology, the management and social implications of modern technology.

Biography

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1937, Shostak received his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 in 1958. In 1961, he received his Ph.D. in Industrial Sociology at Princeton

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 and began teaching at Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania until 1967. He became professor of sociology at Drexel where he taught courses on the effects of technology, industrial and urban sociology, and race and ethnic relations. In 1975 he began serving as an adjunct sociologist with the National Labor College and AFL-CIO George Meany Center for Labor Studies until 2000. Alongside professorship, he was director the Drexel University Center for Employment. He was also a longtime participant in the World Future Society

World Future Society

The World Future Society is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization in Bethesda, Maryland, US, founded in 1966.The Society investigates how social, economic and technological developments are shaping the future...

of futurists where he headed the Philadelphia chapter until 2003. In 2003, Shostak retired from Drexel.

Work

Shostak's articles and books investigate a wide range of topics, all of which are mostly future oriented. Such topics include childhood and adolescent education, globalization, foreign policy, war and peace, information technology, bio, nano, and space technology, labor movements, and utopias.

Selected Bibliography

• Blue-Collar Stress (1980)
• Men and Abortion: Lessons, Losses, and Love (1984)
• The Air Controllers' Controversy: Lessons from the PATCO Strike (1986)
• Robust Unionism: Innovations in the Labor Movement (1991)
• Guidelines from Gomberg: No-Nonsense Advice for Labor and Management (1992)
• For Labor's Sake: Labor Gains and Pains as Told by 28 Creative Inside Reformers (1994)
• Impacts of Changing Employment: If the Good Jobs Go Away (1996)
• Private Sociology: Unsparing Reflections, Uncommon Gains (1996)
• CyberUnion: Empowering Labor through Computer Technology (1999)
• Utopian Thinking in Sociology: Creating the Good Society (2001)
• The CyberUnion Handbook: Transforming Labor through Computer Technology (2002)
• Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World (2003)
• Culture Clash/ Media Demons (2004)
• Trade Towers/War Clouds (2004)
• Making War/Making Peace (2004)
• Mopping Up/ Making Up (2004)
• Turning Point: The Rocky Road to Peace and Reconstruction (2004)
• Moving On: Far Ahead (2004)
• Getting Personal: Staying Ahead (2004)
• America: Moving Ahead (2004)
• Futuristics: Looking Ahead (2004)
• Anticipate the School You want: Futurizing K-12 Education (2008)