I am a cultural and comparative-historical sociologist with research on altruistic behavior, transnational solidarity, and morality. My research explores how beliefs about the common good shape a variety of social sites by focusing on the ways discourse about morality is used to justify the existence of practices and institutions.

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I am currently writing a book called The Religious Roots of Transnational Relief: Calvinism, Humanitarianism, and the Genesis of Social Fields, which is under advance contract at the University of Chicago Press. This project examines the origins and development of the humanitarian NGO sector. In addition, I am working on articles on how professional groups evaluate the worth of their work, and on how political groups respond to downward mobility. 

My work has appeared in journals such as Sociological Theory and The Sociological Review, and received the Global and Transnational Sociology Best Graduate Student Paper Award and an honorable mention for the Theda Skocpol Best Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association.

I am currently a College Fellow at the Department of Sociology at Harvard University, where I teach courses on humanitarian NGOs, nonprofit organizations, and civil society. You can read here about my research, publications, teaching, and service. Contact me at shai.dromi@g.harvard.edu.