Joel Izlar
@joelizlar

Hi! I'm Joel Izlar (my last name rhymes with the licorice candy 'Twizzler') I'm a social scientist, educator, noise rock enthusiast, and tea head.

I'm researching and writing on how organizing ecosocial Functional Communities (e.g., Community Technology Centers, community gardens, and solidarity markets) concurrently operate as forms of protest, mutual aid/social welfare, organizing, and direct action in the 21st Century.

My work is published in various forms, from blog posts and free classes to scholarly articles and academic presentations.

In the near future, I hope to expand into other (free) applied areas such as podcasting, video, and popular text digests.

My current research project is my dissertation, “If We Just Plant the Seed”: Community Technology Centers, Community Organization, and Ecosocial Justice, which explores the processes and outcomes of a Community Technology Center in facilitating community organization and empowerment while addressing localized issues, such as community disempowerment, poverty, and inequality, along with the global problem of toxic electronic waste dumping from the Global North to the Global South.