sociology

Renowned Sociologist Herbert J. Gans recently passed away at the age of 97. Gans was known for his sociological work on urban and suburban life, social policy, and the news media, including the influential books The Urban Villagers, The Levittowners, The War Against the Poor, and Deciding What’s News. Gans was also a liberal activist–opposing the VIetnam war and supporting freedom of the press–and a proponent for participant observation and publicly-accessible writing. This story was covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and ABC News.

In an interview with Ms. Magazine, Laurie Essig (Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Middlebury College) drew parallels between the dissolving democracies in the U.S. and Russia. Essig noted how masculinity and concerns about gender play into authoritarianism: “[E]very dictator we look at, had anxiety about masculinity. That’s true for Mussolini and Stalin, as well as contemporary leaders. Today, they’ve created this monstrous figure, “gender,” to explain the failure of masculinity. For Donald Trump it’s “gender ideology,” this idea that we’re trying to corrupt the children.” In the podcast project, Feminism, Fascism, and the Future, Essig and colleagues explore these themes across multiple national case studies. Essig also advised that “[p]eople need to get together and create a parallel society in a way where we take care of one another, where we engage in protecting our communities.”

In her recent book, Sin Padres, Ni Papeles: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Coming of Age in the United States, Stephanie L. Canizales (Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California- Berkeley) explores legal policies and cultural landscape that shape the lives of undocumented young people in California. She describes how these young people are often exploited in low-paying jobs and vilified for political gain. “If not leverageable for the sake of agenda-setting or even tone-setting to the public, the population is completely forgotten,” Canizales said. “And that really haunts me.” This story was covered by UC Berkeley News.

Craig Considine (Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Rice University) commented: “Pope Francis was the first South American pope in history, and this really shook up the church in a good way. During his papacy, the church became more representative of its actual members as Pope Francis made a sincere effort to reach out to Africa and to Asia and to Latin America, which are three of the epicenters of the Catholic Church.” This was covered by Rice University News and Media Relations.

Landon Schnabel (Associate Professor of Sociology at Cornell University) described how Pope Francis balanced tradition and social transformation: “Pope Francis’ leadership reveals how ancient institutions bend without breaking. His calculated reforms — allowing priests to bless same-sex couples while maintaining traditional marriage doctrine — create breathing room within doctrinal boundaries rather than dismantling them. […] Official doctrine and lived practice now stand in stark contrast. Roughly two-thirds of American Catholics support same-sex marriage despite the Vatican’s continued opposition. In many countries, Catholics regularly use birth control despite official teaching against it. The Church operates at two levels: what Rome proclaims and what the people practice.” This was covered by Cornell News.

Rebecca Hanson (Professor of Sociology at the University of Florida), David Smilde (Professor of Sociology at Tulane University), and Verónica Zubillaga (Sociologist and Co-Director of the Network for Activism and Research for Coexistence) wrote an article for the New York Times in response to the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan men to El Salvador. Hanson, Smilde, and Zubillaga note that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua lacks organizational power and political aspirations in the U.S.: “Organized crime is far less portable than people usually think. It typically involves control of illicit markets, which in turn depends on relationships with local people and officials. These networks are not easily transferable and limit mobility.” The authors challenge these inhumane deportations: “The mass criminalization, arbitrary detainment and violation of due process that have characterized the Trump administration’s actions so far have echoed some of the tactics of the Venezuelan regime many of these young men presumably fled from. It reduces U.S. credibility and emboldens authoritarians everywhere.”

Oneya Fennell Okuwobi (Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati) wrote an article for Salon highlighting the unintended consequences of diversity initiatives–in particular, that they tend to benefit corporations, not employees. Okuwobi explains how many workplaces engage in “diversity displays,” focusing on external appearances. “While workplaces receive the bulk of benefits, employees of color receive the burdens of upholding the image of diversity, with serious costs in terms of additional work, questions about our capabilities, and the need to fit the appearance of diversity that our workplaces desire.” Okuwobi writes more on this topic in her new book, Who Pays for Diversity: Why Programs Fail at Racial Equity and What to Do About It. 

Lucius Couloute (Assistant Professor of Sociology at Trinity College) wrote an article for The Conversation on how U.S. parole systems contribute to recidivism. Couloute argues that although parole was “originally designed to help those convicted of crimes reintegrate into society – through mentorship, supportive services and other resources,” it now serves as a system of punitive surveillance that creates “hidden traps rather than pathways to success.”

Lucius Couloute (Assistant Professor of Sociology at Trinity College) wrote an article for The Conversation on how U.S. parole systems contribute to recidivism. Couloute argues that although parole was “originally designed to help those convicted of crimes reintegrate into society – through mentorship, supportive services and other resources,” it now serves as a system of punitive surveillance that creates “hidden traps rather than pathways to success.”The New York Times ran an article on how I.V.F. technologies may be changing the way we view and relate to embryos. Time-lapse microscopy, a technology that has been widely used since the early 2010s, allows for observation of embryo developments. Many clinics share this video footage with patients on the day of their embryo transfer, before they know if the transfer was successful. The article cites research from Manuela Perrotta (Sociologist at the Queen Mary University of London), finding that some clients experience a deep connection with the video footage. “​​I felt like it was, it was a baby,” one patient told Perrotta and a research co-author. “It sounds really weird, but it felt like I was looking at a potential baby there, and watching it move and do all the stuff, and I just looked, it looked — I know it wasn’t just cells for me.”

This week, Christine L. William’s (Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas) work on workplace inequality was featured in a question on Jeopardy!: “Similar to a barrier to women’s rise, this ‘escalator’ coined by sociologist Christine Williams invisibly lifts men.” This story was covered by the ASA.

Jessica Calarco (Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin) was interviewed by Salon on the difficulties that progressives face when building political coalitions. While the right–unified by a rejection of governmental solutions–can often agree to block new government programs, the left faces the difficult task of agreeing on what government solutions to pursue. “One thing I always tell my students is that, at least from a sociological perspective, causes imply solutions. When we are looking to solve social problems, first we have to agree that a problem exists,” Calarco stated. “Next they have to agree on where the problem is coming from. Those different understandings point to different possible policy solutions.”

The New York Times ran a story on Trump’s cuts to staff and funding in the Department of Education. Philip N. Cohen (Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland) commented on how the data collected by the DOE is crucial for not only research on school performance, but also for research on the state of labor markets, the economy, and inequalities in America. “This is bedrock, base-line information for how our society is functioning,” Cohen stated. “It’s a common language — a shared reality we all have.”

Boom! Lawyered (a Rewire News Group podcast) interviewed David S. Cohen (Professor of Law at Drexel University) and Carole Joffe (Sociologist and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), based at the University of California, San Francisco) about their new book After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe But Not Abortion. Cohen and Joffe discussed potential risks to abortion access and the importance of supporting abortion care advocates. “How come since Dobbs, when everybody expected disaster, the number of abortions actually has risen slightly? Not a lot, but it has risen,” Joffe said. “One big answer to that question is […] the phenomenal networks of people helping people get to abortions. The other answer to that question is the huge influx of money that happened right after Dobbs. The expression often used is rage spending. People were so angry about Dobbs they just gave a ton of money to local funds, to the National Abortion Federation, to Planned Parenthood, to a local clinic.”

Michael Elliot (Professor of Sociology at Towson University) wrote an article for The Conversation on the sacred nature of Comic-Con for dedicated fans. Elliot describes how, beyond entertainment and escapism, comic-con culture provides fans with a “source of principles” to guide behavior, community and fellowship, and sanctuary (Comic-con “provides space for fans to be themselves, helps them cope with personal struggles, and inspires hope.”).

Tressie McMillan Cottom (Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science) appeared on The Opinions–a New York Times podcast–discussing the role of masculinity and messages about gender in the Trump administration. Following Trump blaming a recent plane crash on D.E.I. initiatives, Cottom commented: “I actually think that D.E.I. in that context, while it sort of primed some racial energies, it was really doing its most effective work as a broad dismissal of women. I think one of the reasons that works is because we worked really hard — especially in the last like 15 years — to develop and deepen the repertoire that Americans have to talk about race and racism. I will be honest with you, I’m not sure that we did as good a job of developing that capacity when it came to gender.” Cottom also commented on how strongman politics works “by giving people a scapegoat, giving men a scapegoat — is that it says not only are women the enemy, are people of color and minorities the enemy, but the government is protecting them.” Strongman politics thus facilitate delegitimization of the government.

Yolande Strengers (Digital Sociologists and Professor of Human Centered Computing at Monash University) appeared on Switched On Australia to discuss the energy industries flawed assumptions of consumer behavior and her work on the Digital Energy Futures project. Strengers commented that the energy industry expects consumers to act like ‘mini-economists’ or ‘mini-engineers,’ thinking of their households as a market. However, Strengers examines daily household practices and motivations, finding that consumers often think of energy as a means of comfort and entertainment, or a way to care for others.

The Credits interviewed Brazilian sociologist Ana Paula Sousa (Film Professor at the Higher School of Advertising and Marketing in São Paulo) about I’m Still Here, a film about a family living during the period of military dictatorship in 1970s Brazil. Sousa commented that the film “exposed the roots of our violence – social, institutional and physical. For a long time, we have been shrouded in the haze of the idea that we’re a country of parties, of joy, of the “way things are” and fed by the illusion that we’re the “country of the future.” I’m Still Here shows that perhaps we are still the “country of the past,” in the sense that we need to deal with our old problems, including torture and slavery.”

Bonnie Zare (Professor of Sociology at Virginia Tech) spoke to the Irish Star about the cultural relevance of The Substance, a modern body horror film. “I feel the movie is able to capture this feeling that we’re constantly under scrutiny, that we’re constantly trying to do the impossible, which is get rid of our imperfections, and this sort of self loathing that would accompany that that we’re not talking about,” Zare said. She described the film as a great teaching example of “how we can start to question the norms around us and the policing and disciplining of our bodies, hair and faces.”

Matthew Desmond (Professor of Sociology at Princeton University) appeared on The Daily Show, discussing American poverty and ways to address it and build worker power in the U.S. economy. “I think a lot of us do benefit from poverty in ways we don’t realize,” Desmond commented. “We soak the poor in the labor market or the housing market. We continue to have a government that gives the most to families that need it the least, by subsiding affluence instead of fighting poverty. We continue to live in segregated lives. A lot of us are connected to that problem, but it also means we’re connected to the solution.”

Singapore Management University ran a story on EurekaAlert! featuring Jacqueline Ho’s (Assistant Professor of Social Science at Singapore Management University) work on parents’ perceptions of inequalities in the Singaporean education system. Ho explained: “I find that what the ‘Every School a Good School’ rhetoric is doing is, not so much convincing parents that every school is worthy in its own way, but more that it’s comforting to parents who can’t compete. It’s helping parents to exit the competition with more peace of mind, and less sense of guilt about whether they’re making the right choice for their kid.”

On a recent episode of Normal Gossip, Kelsey McKinney (Author and Journalist) discusses her new book, You Didn’t Hear This From Me, and how she thinks about the functions of gossip. “I was reading a lot of studies by sociologists, and one thing that they talk about a lot is that we use gossip as a tool not only to understand our society, but to understand ourselves,” McKinney said. “So it’s like when I’m talking to you about something I might surprise myself by, like, and instinct that I have or someone I think is a villain in your story and realize, “Oh, this is a like, underlying bias that I have in my life.””