Dean Ray

Dean Ray is a sociologist whose research focuses on settler colonialism, Indigenous agency, race and ethnicity, cultural sociology, and social theory. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative methods, his work examines Indigenous resurgence, recognition, and the relationship between Indigenous communities and state institutions. He received his PhD in Sociology from York University in 2024 and was previously a Connected Minds Postdoctoral Fellow at York University and Queen's University. His dissertation was nominated for York University's Dissertation Prize, and his first book is under contract with UBC Press.

Research Interests: Settler colonialism; Indigenous peoples; Canada; US; politics of recognition; and social theory.