This week we talk with Corey Shdaimah, author of Negotiating Justice: Progressive Lawyering, Low-Income Clients, and the Quest for Social Change. Shdaimah examines how the themes central to progressive lawyering—autonomy, collaboration, transformation, and social change—look on the ground, in the legal services office. We discuss the ethnographic methods she used for this research, and how lawyers and clients navigate their relationships with one another.
Elijah Anderson on Cosmopolitan Canopies
This week we talk with Elijah Anderson, author of The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life. With urban ethnographies like Streetwise, A Place on the Corner, and Code of the Street, Anderson has captured the racial micropolitics that occurs in everyday urban life, highlighting the subtle rules and norms that guide interaction between whites, African Americans, and members of other ethnic groups. In his new book, Anderson returns to familiar territory, though this time he calls attention to parts of the city where more inclusive street behaviors are taking form. “Cosmopolitan canopies” are unique urban spaces that have a street culture that celebrates civility and mutual respect for difference, and Anderson argues they contribute to a broader cultural acceptance around race and diversity.
Sorry, we had to remove this episode. Watch this post for a replacement in the future.
Hans Rosling on the Beauty of Data
We sit down with Hans Rosling for a discussion about how visual graphics can unveil the underlying beauty of data. Highlights include a discussion of the history behind Rosling’s gapminder, who is leading the pack on adopting a “fact-based worldview,” the work that goes into Rosling’s famous TED Talks, and the historical relationship between Sweden and the US (and Minnesota, in particular).
A special thanks goes to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. Rosling spoke at Minnesota as part of their Momentum 2011 series and they were kind enough to allow us to interview him as well.
Charis Kubrin on Criminology and Culture
For this episode, Sarah met up with Charis Kubrin at the 2010 American Society of Criminology meetings, where they talked about about public criminology, culture, and measurement strategies.
Robert M. Groves on the Census
This episode, Jesse visits with Robert M. Groves, Director of the United States Census Bureau. Topics include why our census takes a full sample and how we pull it off, how we count tough populations like undocumented migrants and the homeless, and controversies over racial identification and the role of the state in the census.
© 2012 Office Hours
