Clippings

Clippings – February 26th, 2024 TSP Media Report

Mallory Harrington on February 26, 2024

Eric Klinenberg (Professor of Social Science and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU) appeared on MSNBC’s Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast and in The New Yorker to discuss his new book 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed. Klinenberg described learning through examining crises, enduring effects of the pandemic (a “societal version of long COVID”), and various experiences of New York residents in 2020. “You know, as a sociologist, I think of crises as doing for me what a particle accelerator does for a physicist,” Klinenberg stated. “It’s like it speeds up things that are always happening and makes you able to perceive conditions that you otherwise can’t see.”

Elizabeth Wrigley-Field (Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Director of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota) was quoted in the StarTribune following new research by Wrigley-Field and colleagues that suggests ‘excess deaths’ (the number of deaths over the average expected deaths in a time period) during the pandemic were driven by COVID. “If these excess natural cause deaths had nothing to do with COVID, you would probably see them happening throughout this period, irrespective of when the COVID waves are,” said Wrigley-Field. The research suggests that the death toll from COVID exceeds the official tally. This research was also covered by WebMD, The Guardian, and MPR News.

Emine Fidan Elcioglu (Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto) was interviewed by The Trace about her research examining a southwest border militia group that supplied information on migration routes to the U.S. Border Patrol with the goal of decreasing migration. She found that the group’s gun culture bolstered recruitment, morale, and participation. “Guns can become a gateway for people to get involved in other forms — and much more extremist forms — of politics,” Elcioglu stated. “Guns can become sort of a way to pull them in and radicalize them on issues beyond just guns.”

Recent calls for a nationwide caste census to collect caste data (last collected in 1931) have sparked controversy in India. In an interview with IndiaSpend, Surinder S. Jodhka (Professor of Sociology at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi) emphasized that caste is a crucial indicator of social exclusion. “In order to engage with these issues in a democratic society, we need empirical evidence. Unless there are political mobilizations, systems do not open up. It can also fossilise caste identities,” Jodka stated. “The objective of caste census should not be to reinforce caste-based identity or an identity-based imagination of our future. It should be made a part of a narrative around socioeconomic lives. Eventually, the hope is that once there is a level playing field, we can explore transforming identities into citizenship-based social life where everyone feels that they are equal to others. This requires evidence and data.”

Clippings – February 19th, 2024 TSP Media Report

Mallory Harrington on February 19, 2024

Scott Schieman (Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto) wrote an article for The Conversation on how accurately the ‘unhappy worker’ narrative reflects American workplace satisfaction. Schieman identified “perception glitches” (the difference between how people felt about their own job and how people believe most American workers feel about their jobs) in job satisfaction, stress, compensation, management-employee relationships, and putting in ‘above-and-beyond’ effort. Schieman’s research suggests an “everything is terrible, but I’m fine” mindset, both “ch

Boris Kagarlitsky (prominent Russian sociologist and editor in chief of the Marxist online publication Rabkor) was recently sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine. Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s director for Russia, characterized the sentence as an “abuse of vague anti-terrorism legislation,” commenting that “by targeting Boris Kagarlitsky, a distinguished sociologist known for his critical stance against government policies, the Russian authorities are showing, once again, their relentless assault on all forms of dissent.” This story was covered by The Washington Post.

Christina Ciocca Eller (Assistant Professor of Sociology and Social Studies at Harvard) recently published a study modeling a new potential rating system for U.S. higher education institutions. “Essentially, the [current] rankings don’t account for anything that happens after students walk through the college gates,” Eller argues. Eller’s proposed system focuses instead on the equalizing effect of colleges (how much schools are “leveling the playing field” across students). This story was covered by The Harvard Gazette.

Tina Fetner (Professor of Sociology at McMaster University) recently released a new book, Sex in Canada: The Who, Why, When, and How of Getting Down Up North. As the first national survey of sexual behavior of the general population of Canada, Fetner’s work fills a gap in national research. “If we move away from the taboos and shame, we can see that our sexual behaviour is much like any other social behaviour,” Fetner commented. “It is shaped by social norms, regulated by social institutions, and influenced by our cultures.” This story was covered by Brighter World and Vancourver is Awesome.

Clippings – February 12th, 2024 TSP Media Report

Mallory Harrington on February 12, 2024

Chicago Magazine interviewed Eric Klinenberg (Professor of Social Science and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University) about his new book, 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed. The book–a “social autopsy”–focuses on New York City in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how institutions broke down during the crisis. “Societies reveal themselves when they’re under threat,” Klinenberg said. “You can see who we are and what we value, whose lives matter and whose don’t.”

Jonathan Wynn (Professor of Sociology at UMass Amherst) and Daniel Skinner (Associate Professor of Health Policy at Ohio University) recently wrote a piece for The Conversation on the “paradox of medically overserved communities.” For urban, non-profit hospitals, mission statements usually include providing a benefit to the local community; however, people living around these hospitals tend to have worse health in comparison to the broader city population.

Paul Spoonley (Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Massey University) appeared on AM to comment on New Zealand’s aging population and low fertility rates. Spoonley noted that by the 2030s, 1 in 4 people will be over the age of 65 and that care for an older population will place fiscal strain on the government. This story was covered by Newshub.

Lindsey D. Cameron (Assistant Professor of Management, Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania), Curtis K. Chan (Professor of Management and Organization at Boston College), and Michel Anteby (Professor of Management and Organizations, Sociology at Boston University) wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review on how gig workers respond to employers labeling them as “heroes.” They interviewed Instacart workers in 2020, after the company launched a “Household Heroes” marketing campaign. While some workers “readily embraced the hero label and viewed their work as resoundingly worthy,” others rejected the label and viewed the label as exploitative and manipulative. Most workers struggled “to reconcile the banality of grocery shopping with the idea that they were doing moral work.” Cameron, Chan, and Anteby warn companies that “moralizing jobs” to increase motivation can backfire.

Clippings – January 29th TSP Media Report

Mallory Harrington on January 29, 2024

The Miami Times highlighted Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How it Can Be Stopped, a new book by Kathleen Blee (Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh), Robert Futrell (Professor of Sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Pete Simi (Professor of Sociology at Chapman University), which details how white supremacist ideas become mainstream. “As history shows,“ the authors wrote, “extreme white supremacist culture resonates over time as people seek scapegoats to explain threats they perceive to their power and privileges, or to explain their failings.”

The New York Times recently interviewed Christopher Bader, Professor of Sociology at Chapman University and principal investigator on the Chapman Survey of American Fears. Bader described that the leading fear among Americans is government corruption, with 60% of Americans–both progressives and conservatives–fearing corrupt government officials.

French farmers are currently mobilizing to resist increasing diesel prices and environmental constraints. However, unlike recent protests in France, the efforts have so far been met with tolerance from politicians and law enforcement. Sociologist Bertrand Hervieu noted that there is a high degree of goodwill between the government and farmers; they have a close daily working relationship and agriculture is a part of the French identity. This story was covered by Actual News Magazine.

Clippings – December 4th TSP Media Report

Mallory Harrington on December 4, 2023

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. has proposed a plan to remove “Principles of Sociology” as an option to fulfill the social science course requirement at public universities. Sociology department heads at 10 universities signed a letter objecting to the plan. Alison Cares (Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Central Florida) commented: “It’s really important for students to understand that human behavior is not just a factor of individual level characteristics, right? That there are larger social structures at play.” The final vote on the plan will take place in January. This story was covered by Tampa Bay Times and Inside Higher Education.

Via ASA) Christopher P. Scheitle (Associate Professor of Sociology at West Virginia University) wrote an article for The Conversation about religious diversity in science, focusing on the experiences of religious graduate students in scientific fields. Many religious students describe their academic programs as having a culture of “assumed atheism” and feel the need to conceal their beliefs. Religious students also tend to place more importance on family lives and children, and are less likely to pursue demanding research-focused tenure track positions.

Smithsonian Magazine ran an article featuring new research showing that life expectancy across the U.S. fell from 2019 to 2021 and that women now live 5.8 years longer than men. The report notes that gender disparities in Covid-19 deaths and fatal opioid overdoses contribute to this gap. “These trends should be a wake-up call that we can’t coast along toward better and longer lives,” commented Philip Cohen (Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland). “We need real, substantial and sustained attention to public health and health care in this country–and we need it yesterday.” NBC News reported that the U.S. has begun to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, but is lagging behind other wealthy nations. Ryan Masters (Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado) commented: “To see an increase now in 2022 is great…but it’s coming a year later than what other comparable countries experienced and it’s only marginally scratching the surface of improving mortality conditions for Americans.”

Meduza ran a story on political repression, featuring the expertise of Jennifer Earl (Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware). Earl uses a broad definition of repression that includes actions by both governments and private entities that “raise the costs” of organizing or “actually constrain or influence the ability to act.” Earl also notes the importance of looking at a government’s administrative capacity to understand repression: “The more administrative capacity you have, the [more] quickly that can turn into repressive capacity, whether you’re a democracy or an authoritarian state.”

El País ran a story highlighting the Wall Evidence Project, which has been documenting the graffiti and inscriptions left by the Russian military in occupied areas of Ukraine since February of 2022. Analyzing the graffiti as a reflection of the author’s state of mind, Anna Samchuck (Sociologist in the Methodology and Methods of Sociological Research Department at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) described three common themes: 1) assumptions that Russia and Ukraine are separate nations; 2) fears of death; and 3) a desire to dominate Ukraine.

How Sociology Can Contribute to Public Policy

Neeraj Rajasekar on March 23, 2017

As discussed in a recent piece in The New York Times, economists have had an influential role in 20th century social and economic policy. Economics research has been instrumental in many policy decisions, from education to health care, and this continues today. As writer Neil Irwin suggests, however, other social science fields might also have the tools necessary to assist policymakers, and one of those disciplines could be sociology.

Some of the social forces and dynamics that economists study, such as wages and employment, can be understood more thoroughly when you also consider the sociological angle. Jobs are about more than paychecks for many people, acting as a source of identity and purpose. As sociologist Herbert Gans explains, “Unemployment isn’t just losing wages, it’s losing dignity and self-respect and a feeling of usefulness.” Research by Ofer Sharone shows that unemployed white-collar workers saw their inability to land a job as an indication of their self-worth. When they got rejected, they gave up more quickly. This phenomenon helps explain why the economy never fully recovered the jobs lost in 2008 — people didn’t feel confident about trying to find another job. Similarly, Jennifer M Silva finds that, for some young working class adults, past economic milestones such as buying a house or getting a job feel out of reach in today’s world, creating a sense of economic precariousness.

Another issue that sociologists can contribute to are poverty and housing. Sociologist Matthew Desmond’s book Evicted adds another layer to a discussion that has traditionally focused on subsidies, incentives, and lending. Evicted talks about how the cyclical struggle people in poverty face goes beyond dollars, and involved issues of stigma, discrimination, and unequal access to resources. These ideas may not normally be something policymakers focus on, especially when you consider that economists have been the primary go-to social scientists. But other fields could help add nuance to the conversation, which could lead to more comprehensive policy. Michele Lamont states that because of the influence that economics has, policymakers may find that “the only questions worth asking are the questions that economists are equipped to answer … That’s not to take anything away from what they do … It’s just that many of the answers they give are very partial.”

“Muggles” and Stigma: Using Harry Potter to Teach Sociology

Caity Curry on September 20, 2016

Professors of sociology often struggle to introduce sociological concepts in new and thought-provoking ways to their students. According to a recent article in Bowling Green Daily News, Professor Bertena Varney is tackling this issue in an unconventional way and using the Harry Potter series to engage her students with various sociological topics. In her “Inequality in Society” class at Southern Kentucky Community and Technological College, Varney sorts students into the houses of Hogwarts and each day a specific house leads class discussion on social issues. For example, the students apply the Harry Potter terminology of “muggles” and “squibs” to a discussion of the disabled and mentally challenged.

Not only do the students use Harry Potter to understand concepts, but they also engage in community service, tutoring, and social media in order to compete for the house cup, which awards the winning house fifty points of extra credit at the end of the semester. Varney also views this immersion structure as providing students with future skills outside of the classroom, saying:

“Once you get them thinking about other people besides themselves, they take off. It teaches them a lot of social skills and problem solving … [and] it’s easier for students to find out how they can work together to make the world a better place. ”

When professors use magical teaching methods like Varney, students are so entranced by the material that anti-cheating spells are no longer necessary!

Tenure Track, Mommy Track

Allison Nobles on February 25, 2016

"Proto-Professor," by Liz Lawley, Flickr CC. — “Proto-Professor,” by Liz Lawley, Flickr CC.

Parenting is hard, whether you’re an academic or not. But when you’re a professor, there is one surefire way to help stay in the field, get tenure, and even score a pay bump. Be a man.

The message is clear: women with children in academia are at a disadvantage compared to both men with children and women without them. A recent article in Jezebel compiled findings from several studies to demonstrate this. According to sociologist Michelle Budig, high-income men get the biggest pay bump from having children in any job category, and low-income women lose the most.

A US News article, likewise reports that male professors with young children are more than three times as likely as women with young children to get tenure-track positions. Notably, women without children come in a close second: they are just under three times as likely as women with children to get tenure.

Along the same lines, women who have a baby as a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow are more than twice as likely as men who have children during this time to leave academic research. When it comes to having children in academia, women pay a harsh “baby penalty.”

Netflix Presents: The Sociology of Dating

Allison Nobles on November 23, 2015

It’s an exciting day when a sociologist and a comedian write a book together, and even more so when that book turns into a Netflix series. To be clear, Aziz Ansari recently stated that his new series, Master of None (which premiered November 6th on Netflix) is not simply Modern Romance (the book he wrote with sociologist Eric Klinenberg) on the small screen. However, a recent Vogue review highlights how the show incorporates many of the ideas Ansari and Klinenberg present in their book.

Master of None is brilliant, insightful, and hilarious, the perfect vehicle for Ansari to animate the ideas and sociological concepts that he wasn’t quite able to make jump off the page earlier this year.

The show explores the dating world of New York City through the main character Dev, a 30-year-old actor. Readers of Modern Romance will notice overlaps, including when Dev takes a cue from a study cited in the book’s section, “The Effects of Non-Boring-Ass Dates,” by flying a date to Nashville. He confronts questions about monogamy when a woman wants to hook up with him to get back at her husband. And he laments that he is not “just a bubble in a phone” when he is blown off by a potential date.

Read the full article here.

Read a TSP Clipping on Modern Romance.

An Academic Bind: “Publish or Perish” Means Playing It Safe

Miray Philips on October 16, 2015

Academics could be forgiven for phoning one in. Poster by Mitch Rosenberg via zazzle.com

Publish. Publish. Publish.

Academics are expected to regularly publish in highly regarded journals as a measure of productivity, and therefore success. Whether as a graduate student hoping to land the perfect job or an early-career professor tackling the demanding process to earn tenure, academics experience a lot of stress.

According to a recent study published in the American Sociological Review, research that delves deeper into already known concepts (what the authors call traditional research) is more likely to get published than research that contributes new connections and ideas to the field (innovative work). But researchers writing innovative studies are more likely to be awarded for their work, as their research has a higher impact. So, if academics are more likely to publish traditional work at a higher rate than risk no publications coming out of innovative research, we can see where the tension arises.

Jacob Foster, one of the authors of the study, told the UCLA Newsroom,

Published papers that make a novel connection are rare but more highly rewarded. So what accounts for scientists’ disposition to pursue tradition over innovation? Our evidence points to a simple explanation: Innovative research is a gamble whose payoff, on average, does not justify the risk. It’s not a reliable way to accumulate scientific reward.

sociology