Hello and welcome –

I’m Zep Kalb, a sociologist and Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University.

My research lies at the intersections of global sociology, economic sociology, and political sociology. I’m interested in capitalism, labor, and state-making in the developing world, with a focus on Iran and the Middle East. My work integrates qualitative and quantitative methods, often using comparative-historical approaches.

I’m currently involved in three lines of inquiry. One line of inquiry studies international sanctions and economic warfare, including how sanctions shape policy, institutions, and state-society relations.

A second line of research investigates worker power and welfare politics in the global South, especially in relation to growing protectionism and democratic regress.

In a third line of research, I study how states create and command markets. This research looks at corporate ownership structures, directorate board interlocks, and the social profiles of business elites.

My research has been published in journals such as Development and Change, the Journal of Agrarian Change, Middle Eastern Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Iranian Studies, and the New Left Review. At Princeton, I’m also developing my first book, which builds on my PhD dissertation on labor politics and state-making in Iran.

I’m also deeply committed to engaging policymakers and the public. My work has been published or featured in CNN, The Washington Post, Phenomenal World, Foreign Policy, and other popular outlets — as well as in Middle East-focused platforms such as Al Monitor, Sharq, Jadaliyya, MERIP, and the Project on Middle East Political Science. In 2021-22, I was a Visiting Fellow at the Bourse and Bazaar Foundation.

I completed my PhD in Sociology at UCLA. I lived in Iran for several years, where I studied at the University of Tehran and worked as a journalist for a local financial newspaper. I received my BA in Economics from SOAS. Outside of academia, I spend a lot of time sporting, traveling, and reading the Financial Times (bad habits – I know!). I also love movies and I’ve written extensively about non-Hollywood and global arthouse film.

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2-S-9 Green Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544

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