political sociology

Martin Eiermann (Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) published a new book, The Limiting Principle: How Privacy Became a Public Issue, tracing the evolution of the concept of privacy and discussing conundrums of privacy in the digital age. Eiermann notes that “institutions that know a lot about our personal lives are able to comply with the letter of the law without offering informational privacy in a more substantive sense” and that people “suffer different consequences when their data is collected and analyzed.” This story was covered by UC Berkeley News.

Arthur Jipson (Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Dayton) and Paul Becker (Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Dayton) wrote an article for The Conversation about patterns of political violence in the United States. Although defining and measuring incidents of political violence is complex, they describe two major trends we can draw from empirical evidence. First, compared to overall violent crime, political violence is rare, but on the rise. Political violence also tends to capture media attention and amplify fear. Second, the majority of political violence stems from right-wing ideologies. This article was also cited in The Washington Post.

French sociologist Michel Wieviorka’s (Professor at École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris) new book, The Last Jewish Joke, traces the rise and decline of the “golden age” of Jewish humor in the late 20th Century. Wieviorka describes how self-deprecating humor served as a way to reaffirm Jewish community in a period of openness and declining antisemitism following World War II, and suggests that ”when interest in the intellectual heritage and cultural vitality of Yiddishkeit begins to wane, when Israel ceases to be viewed in a positive light, and when the capacity for bringing to life a Jewishness that also interests non-Jews is absent, these jokes can only appear as vestiges from the past.” This story was covered by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Kiowa County Press ran an article on political polarization in response to the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Marcus Mann (Assistant Professor of Sociology at Purdue University) commented that “outrage-based” media programming contributes to polarization: “That kind of ‘us-vs.-them’ mentality is incredibly compelling and it’s very powerful for fostering strong ‘in groups’ and making you feel part of a strong community. And we see media outlets gaining audience share through this kind of thing.” Mann noted that Republicans tend to be more homogenous than Democrats and that right-wing media “commands a way larger audience and it has features that invoke features of religion.”

Wisconsin Public Radio interviewed Allison Daminger (Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) about her new book, What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life. The book examines how partners split “cognitive labor”, or, the mental effort that goes into running a household. This includes “anticipating issues, identifying options, making decisions and monitoring the results.” While most couples in the study aimed for a 50/50 split of household labor, Daminger found that cognitive labor was typically imbalanced. Among heterosexual couples, women tend to take on more cognitive labor.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University. Ruth Braunstein (Associate Professor of Sociology at John Hopkins University) appeared on WUSA9 to discuss the broader pattern of political violence in the United States. Braunstein commented that political violence has a “tremendous chilling effect on people’s willingness to go into political life, to stand up and speak out for what they believe in.” She also discussed how distrust in political institutions may lead some individuals to violence, which can further erode trust in insituions–a “vicious cycle.” Braunstein also expressed concern to the New York Times that Kirk’s murder could mobilize right-wing groups (including militia organizations): “All it will take is the slightest hint from the political leaders, including the president, but also anyone else, that this is the moment that they’re needed.”

Laura Garbes (Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota) wrote an op-ed for the Minnesota Star Tribune discussing how ‘elitism’ in public media stems from a lack of public funding. “Due to decades of budget cuts led by Republican administrations, public radio has become reliant on a set of mostly white, affluent donors for its financial survival,” Garbes explains. Programming, then, is catered to donor-listeners, leaving behind working-class audiences.

Protests are sweeping across France as a part of the Block Everything Movement–a campaign driven by anger over major cuts to public spending. The movement began online among right-wing voices, but has since been embraced by the political left. Quentin Ravelli (Sociologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research) discussed the movement’s lack of a clear political identity in an RFI article: “Many movements avoid being labelled left or right. This isn’t just strategic: participants often feel that consensus around economic demands matter more than political allegiance. Urgent issues like public services, wages or inflation are seen as priorities.” The movement is drawing comparisons to the 2018 Yellow Vest Movement. Antoine Bristelle (Sociologist at the Jean Jaures Foundation) commented on the demographic differences to The Gazette: “In the ‘Yellow Vest’ movement, we had a rather vulnerable France that was struggling to make ends meet, a lot of workers, a lot of retirees. Whereas here, in terms of age, it’s many young people [that have] a certain vision of the world where there is more social justice, less inequality and a political system that functions differently, better,” Bristielle said.