• Critical and cultural criminology
• State violence and institutional power
• Human and animal rights
• Vegan sociology and critical animal studies
• Human rights policing and institutional reform
• Urban ethnography
• Inequality and marginalization
• Social movements and resistance
• Qualitative research methods

 

Biography

Dr. Peter Marina is a sociologist and criminologist who earned his Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan curently employed with University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. His scholarship examines state power, inequality, and emerging forms of transgression in late modern society. He is the author of Human Rights Policing: Reimagining Law Enforcement in the 21st Century (Routledge, 2023) and Down and Out in New Orleans: Transgressive Living in the Informal Economy (Columbia University Press, 2017), among other books and articles. He also serves as Series Editor for Ethnographies of Religion (Lexington Books, 2016–present).

Marina’s work bridges ethnographic research and critical theory, integrating the dialectic of history and biography to examine how structural forces shape lived experience. His research spans inner-city youth, street performers, marginalized urban residents, religious subcultures, and law enforcement officers, exploring how power, resistance, and social control operate in everyday life.

Recently, his scholarship has increasingly engaged questions of human and animal rights, institutional legitimacy, and ethical reform, contributing to work in vegan sociology, critical animal studies, and human rights policing. Across projects, his work reflects a sustained commitment to understanding how dignity, inequality, and institutional authority intersect in contemporary society.

 

Key Publications

Books

• Dispatching Human Rights: Ethical Awareness in Emergency 911 Response. Routledge. Forthcoming.
• Human Rights Policing: Reimagining Law Enforcement in the 21st Century. Routledge, 2022.
• Down and Out in New Orleans: Transgressive Living in the Informal Economy. Columbia University Press, 2017.
• Chasing Religion in the Caribbean: Ethnographic Journeys from Antigua to Trinidad. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Selected Articles

• “Buskers of New Orleans: Transgressive Sociology in the Urban Underbelly.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.
• “War, Inequality, and Policing: The Hidden Costs of America’s Military Empire.” The Blue Magazine, Vol. 16, Issue 3 (August 18, 2025).
• “The True Culprit: How Structural Failures Fuel Crime and Social Discontent.” The Blue Magazine, Vol. 15, Issue 5 (December 16, 2024).
• “Winston Vs Eichmann: Our Individual and Institutional Question.” The Blue Magazine, Vol. 15, Issue 3 (July 17, 2024).

 

Student Supervision

Dr. Marina welcomes inquiries from graduate and advanced undergraduate students interested in:

• Urban ethnography
• Human and animal rights
• Critical and cultural criminology
• Human rights policing and institutional reform
• Vegan sociology and critical animal studies
• Sociology of Religion
• State violence and institutional power
• Inequality and marginalization
• Social movements and resistance
• Qualitative research methods

He is particularly interested in mentoring projects that bridge empirical research and ethical theory, especially those examining power, structural inequality, institutional legitimacy, and transformative justice.

 

Contact

p j m a r i n a @ g m a i l . c o m