Author Archives: John Carroll John Carroll is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia; and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University. He has degrees in mathematics, economics and sociology from the universities of Melbourne and Cambridge. His work focuses on culture, and its crucial role in the human search for meaning, with particular reference to the modern Western society. Twenty years on since the first film, the Harry Potter phenomenon is worth reassessing. Simply put, it is the greatest literary tour de force of the past quarter-century. I would claim more. JK Rowling has been the greatest contributor to the public good in the Western world in this period. Harry Potter has drawn millions […]