New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings via Mallory Harrington highlights recent sociological insights, including Arlie Russell Hochschild’s exploration of political divides in Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right, Gi-Wook Shin’s analysis of South Korea’s political instability following President Yoon’s martial law declaration in All Things Considered, Allison Pugh’s examination of AI’s impact on human connection in  The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World, Musa Al-Gharbi’s critique of social justice discourse in We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, and Danielle Lindemann’s take on how reality TV reflects societal inequalities.

From the Archives

As 2024 comes to a close, many magazines and publications are sharing their picks for this year’s best books. Whether you’re looking forward to some holiday downtime or are starting to plan your 2025 reading list, be sure to check out this selection of must-read sociology books that our Board published earlier this year.

Public outcry against Joe Biden’s hypocrisy in pardoning Hunter Biden after repeatedly claiming he would not do so throughout his presidency brings forth a number of considerations; first, this New York Mag article highlights how Biden could potentially commute the sentences of 40 men on federal death row, yet chose to use the remainder of his time in office pardoning his son. This 2021 piece provides a rundown on the sociological significance of scandals and the role that media, public morality, and social identities like race and gender contribute to how we experience scandals socially.

Recently Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare, was killed outside of his Hotel in New York. While the motives are still unknown, this news has raised many questions about the ethics of profiting off of health care. This 2014 article from Sociological Images reflects on health care as a 2.7 trillion dollar industry in America.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• from carbon paper to code: crafting sociology in an age of ai by Corey Abramson on repurposing evolving technologies like AI for deeper social insights while reflecting on the enduring lessons of critical, engaged methodologies from thinkers like C. Wright Mills and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Council on Contemporary Families

• Racial Wealth Inequality Emerges in Young Adulthood by Ellen Bryer and Alexander Adames write about racial wealth gaps, emeringe in young adulthood, driven by disparities in financial assets rather than debt, and how addressing these gaps will require multifaceted solutions such as student debt cancellation, raising the minimum wage, and implementing baby bonds.
• The educational costs of teen births by Joseph D. Wolfe and Mieke Beth Thomeer cover their research on how educational costs of teen births have grown over time, especially for women from advantaged backgrounds, as structural and socioeconomic factors increasingly shape the opportunity costs and life outcomes tied to adolescent childbearing.