EIN Presswire featured Angela Simms’ (Assistant Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at Barnard College-Columbia University) new book Fighting for a Foothold. The book examines why Black middle-class residents in the United States–who are well positioned to thrive–struggle to sustain strong public goods and services. Simms investigates why they face challenges when following the same fiscal rules as Whiter, wealthier neighbors. She argues that ongoing government policies and business practices such as federal mortgage insurance policies, reliance on property taxes, and private investment patterns shaped these disparities in wealth.
A story by The Rice Thresher features Leah Binkovits (Sociology Ph.D. Student at Rice University and a Senior Editorial Writer for the Houston Chronicle) who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2025 for a series she wrote on train safety. In the series, Binkovits used her sociological training to frame the everyday “inconvenience” Houston residents face from dangerous railroads and how it connects to a “bigger system of power and economics, history and all these courses together.” The work began receiving attention from officials after the death of a teenage boy crossing train tracks in 2024. She felt honored to be recognized by her peers with this award and wants to use her work to draw attention to Houston’s financial needs, especially since that money can help create overpasses, underpasses, and necessary infrastructure.
Rena Zito (Associate Professor of Sociology at Elon University) wrote an article in The Conversation challenging misconceptions about Tourette syndrome that have to do with shouting curses or slurs. As a person with Tourette syndrome, Zito felt it was important to clarify the misconception that tics reveal what people really think: “In reality, tics often compel people to say or do precisely what they most wish to avoid.” She also explains that “fewer than 1 in 5 people with Tourette’s experience taboo tics, such as coprolalia — involuntary obscene or offensive speech.”
Daniel Perez G. recently wrote about Zygmunt Bauman’s (Philosopher and Sociologist) work on social structures. An idea he developed “liquid modernity,” which is the belief that “nothing is meant to last” recently received attention for the way it captured his beliefs on the fragility of romantic bonds. He believes this type of modernity has exchanged stability for constant change and describes the impact this is having on romance using his theory “liquid love”. This theory explains how consumer culture and the crave for individual freedom and flexibility perpetuates the idea of having options and weakens romantic bonds. Relationships are moving away from long-term commitment to temporary arrangements. Bauman warns and cautions that the ideal of the “liquid” individual blocks personal growth by avoiding emotional pain.
