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Matthew Light

Associate Professor

Faculty of Arts and Science, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies

Orcid identifier0000-0001-6806-6514
  • Associate Professor
    Faculty of Arts and Science, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies
  • 416-978-7124 Ext.227

BIO

Dr. Matthew Light is the Academic Director and Professor at the University of Toronto's Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies. Dr. Light studies migration control, policing and criminal justice, and public and citizen security, primarily in the post-Soviet region. His book (Routledge 2016) and several related articles on Russian federal and regional migration policies in the aftermath of the breakup of the USSR analyze what forms of freedom of movement emerged in the new post-Soviet Russian state, and frame the Soviet and post-Soviet experience with migration management in comparative international perspective. Dr. Light’s recent work concerns policing and other aspects of public and citizen security in several post-Soviet countries, including Russia, Georgia, and Armenia, and examines the evolution of both public policing institutions and private provision of security in the region.

Media availability: TV, Radio, Print/Online

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Academic Director
    University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, Toronto, Canada1 Jul 2023 - present
  • Associate Professor
    University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, Toronto, CanadaJul 2014 - present
  • Assistant Professor (titular cross-appointment in CERES and Department of Political Science)
    University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, Toronto, Canada2008 - 2014
  • Visiting Assistant Professor
    University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Political Science, Amherst Center, United States2006 - 2008

DEGREES

  • Ph.D., Political Science
    Yale University, New Haven, United States2006
  • J.D., Law
    Yale University, New Haven, United States1999
  • M.A., Political Science
    University of Chicago, Chicago, United States1996
  • A.B., Russian Language and Literature & Political Science
    Harvard University, Cambridge, United States1994

LANGUAGES

  • English

AVAILABILITY

  • Media enquiries

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