The lecture is based on Reed's recent book Power in Modernity, where he proposes a bold new theory of power that describes overlapping networks of delegation and domination.

In his review of the book for the American Journal of Cultural Sociology, Oma Lizardo states that "Isaac Reed's Power in Modernity is perhaps the most important social theory book published in a generation".

Isaac Reed is a historical and cultural sociologist with particular interests in the philosophy of social science, the historical origins of American modernity and the development of the American state, and the social theory of power.

Isaac Reed is currently Professor of Political and Social Thought and Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia. He was previous the Chair of the Theory section of the American Sociological Association.