James Midgley is the Harry and Riva Specht Professor of Public Social Services and Dean Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally from South Africa, he studied at the University of Cape Town and the London School of Economics and held academic appointments at both universities before moving to the United States 1985 where he served as as Dean of the School of Social Work and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at Louisiana State University. He accepted the appointment as Specht Professor and Dean of the School of Social Welfare Berkeley in 1997.
He has published widely on issues of social development, social policy, social work and international social welfare. His major books include Professional Imperialism: Social Work in the Third World. Heinemann, 1981; Social Security, Inequality and the Third World, Wiley, 1984; Comparative Social Policy and the Third World, Harvester, 1987 (with Stewart MacPherson); The Social Dimensions of Development: Social Policy and Planning in the Third World, Gower, 1989 (with Margaret Hardiman); Social Development: The Developmental Perspective in Social Welfare, Sage, 1995; Social Welfare in Global Context, Sage, 1997; Social Policy for Development, Sage, 2004 (with Anthony Hall) and Social Development: Theory and Practice, Sage, 2014.
In addition, he has edited or co-edited many books on international social welfare and social development. Among the most recent are Social Work and Social Development: Theories and Skills for Developmental Social Work, Oxford University Press, 2010 (with Amy Conley); Social Policy and Poverty in East Asia: The Role of Social Security, Routledge, 2010 (with K. L. Tang); Grassroots Social Security in Asia, Routledge, 2011 (with Mitsuhiko Hosaka); Colonialism and Welfare: Social Policy and the British Imperial Legacy. Edward Elgar, 2011 (with David Piachaud); Planning and Community Development: Case Studies. Madrid: Technical University of Madrid, GrupoGESPLAN-UPM, 2012 (with Adolfo Carzola); Social Protection, Economic Growth and Social Change: Goals, Issues and Trajectories in China, India, Brazil and Africa. Edward Elgar, 2013 (with David Piachaud); Social Protection in Southern Africa: New Opportunities for Social Development. Routledge, 2014 (with Leila Patel and Marian Ulricksen) and Social Policy and Social Change in East Asia. Lexington Books, 2014 (with James Lee and Yapeng Zhu).
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and holds Honorary Professorial appointments at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, Nihon Fukushi University in Japan, Sun Yat-sen University in China and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
