Dr. Steven Osuna, Associate Professor

Email: steven.osuna@csulb.edu
Office: PSY-137
Phone: (562) 985-4604

Pronouns: he/him/his

Main Courses:

• Critical Criminology (Soc. 342)
• Modern Sociological Theory (Soc. 357)
• Sociology of Migration and Immigration (Soc. 358)
• The Transnational Latino Experience in the Caribbean: Imperialism, Reform, and Revolution (CHLS 430 – Cuba Study Abroad Course) 

Research Interests:

• Racism and political economy, globalization and immigration; policing and criminalization; social theory

Education:

• Ph.D., Sociology, Black Studies Doctoral Emphasis, UC Santa Barbara, 2015
• M.A., Sociology, UC Santa Barbara, 2011
• M.A., Chicana/o Studies, CSU Los Angeles, 2008
• B.A., Chicana/o Studies, Option: Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, CSU, Los Angeles, 2005

Publications

• Articles
  • Leisy Abrego and Steven Osuna, “The State of Exception: Gangs as a Neoliberal Scapegoat in El Salvador,” The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. 29, Issue 1 (Fall/Winter 2022).
  • Steven Osuna,  “The Social Murder of Victoria Salazar: Neoliberal Capitalism and Working Class Precariousness in El Salvador,” Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis, Vol. 1, Issue 3 (2022): Article 4. 
    • Honorable Mention, Outstanding Marxist Sociology Award, 2022-23, ASA Section on Marxist Sociology 
  • Steven Osuna, “Securing Manifest Destiny: Mexico’s War on Drugs, Crisis of Legitimacy, and Global Capitalism,” Journal of World Systems Research, 21(1) (2021).
  • Steven Osuna, “Transnational Moral Panic: Neoliberalism and the Spectre of MS-13,” Race & Class, 61(4) (2020).
  • Steven Osuna, “The Psycho Realm Blues: The Violence of Policing, Disordering Practices, and Rap Criticism in Los Angeles,” Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, 4(1) (2019).
  • Steven Osuna, “Intra-Latina/o Encounters: Salvadoran and Mexican Struggles and Salvadoran-Mexican Subjectivities in Los Angeles,” Special Issue of Ethnicities: Latino Formation in the U.S.: Laboring Classes, Migration & Identities 15(2) (2015).

• Book chapters
  • Steven Osuna, “Class Suicide: The Black Radical Tradition, Radical Scholarship, and the Neoliberal Turn,” In Gaye T. Johnson and Alex Lubin, The Futures of Black Radicalism (2017).
  • Steven Osuna, “Obstinate Transnational Memories: How Oral Histories Shape Salvadoran-Mexican Subjectivities,” In Alicia Estrada et. al. U.S. Central Americans: Reconstructing Memories, Struggles, and Communities of Resistance.(2017). 
  • Steven Osuna, “They’re Not Solving the Problem, They’re Displacing It: An Interview with Alex Sanchez.” In Jordan D. Camp and Christina Heatherton, Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter (2016).

• Reviews

• Other
  • Steven Osuna, “Clyde Woods: The People’s Prof!” Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, Vol. 8, No 1-2 (2021)

Media

• Millennials are Killing Capitalism, Mao’s “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” with Steven Osuna, December 14, 2023.
• Millennials are Killing Capitalism, “Back to Organization” – David Chávez, Steven Osuna, Alejandro Villalpando & Jared Ware Offer Reflections from the Abolitions Conference, July 6, 2023.
• Summer Lin, “Cal State Long Beach faculty back professor who accused campus police of racial profiling,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 2022.
• Millennials are Killing Capitalism, “We Need To Be Active In The Working Class Struggle For Socialism Globally’ – Steven Osuna on Class Suicide,” May 12, 2022,
• The World, “El Salvador’s Bukele Arrests 13,000 in Crusade Against Gangs,” April 20, 2022.
• The Checkout, “Episode 114: Dr. Steven Osuna on Racial Capitalism and Class Suicide,” April 3, 2022.
• Trés Mall, “Violent Entrepreneurs,” June 21, 2021. 
• CSF Collective, “Interrogating Policing Transnationally with Dr. Steven Osuna,” January 4, 2021.
• Daniel Hernandez, “A Salvadoran Writer Busts the Trump Myth of the Tattooed Immigrant Threat,” LA Times, September 29, 2020.