Joel Kotkin

Described by the New York Times as “America’s uber-geographer,” Joel Kotkin is an internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends. His latest book, "The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class" is now available in paperback.

Kotkin is the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California and directs the Center for Demographics and Policy there. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas in Austin. He is also Executive Editor of the widely read website NewGeography.com. He has a regular column in Spiked in the UK, the National Post in Canada and the American Mind. He also writes regularly for UnHerd, Quillette, the Los Angeles Times, National Review, City Journal, The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator as well as many other national publications.

Kotkin is the author of ten previously published books, including the widely praised "The New Class Conflict," which describes the changing dynamics of class in America. He authored "The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us" and co-edited, with MIT’s Alan Berger, the 2018 collection "Infinite Suburbia." He also co-edited, with Ryan Streeter, a book on the future of cities.

Other past books include "The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050," which explores how the nation will evolve in the next four decades. "The City: A Global History" and "Tribes: How Race, Religion and Identity Are Reshaping the Global Economy," which were published in numerous languages.

Kotkin has published reports on topics ranging from the future of class in global cities to the places with the best opportunities for minorities. His 2013 report, “Post-familialism: Humanity’s Future,” an examination of the world’s future demography, was published by the Civil Service College of Singapore and Chapman University and has been widely commented on not only in the United States, but in Israel, Brazil, Canada and other countries. He is currently directing a study for the Center at Chapman on the future of California’s Latinos.

He has spoken to groups ranging from small numbers of CEOs to large international organizations. Consulting work has included ideas about improving American competitiveness and the US business climate as well as studies of Singapore, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, San Bernardino, and St. Louis, among others.