New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings by Mallory Harrington includes Raka Ray and Geoffrey Pleyers’ reflections on the passing of Michael Burawoy, a towering figure in public sociology whose work shaped labor studies, ethnographic methods, and the discipline as a whole. Max Besbris commented on the rapid rebuilding of the Palisades after California’s wildfires, noting that wealthy residents will dictate the terms of recovery; Aldon Morris and Harry Edwards weighed in on the state of the U.S. under the Trump administration, warning of potential unrest; Ulrike Bialas discussed the crisis of young, homeless migrants in Paris; and George Kassar applied Norbert Elias’ theories on the “civilizing process” to digital norms and Netiquette.

This summary of pieces by us and our partners by me explores the Super Bowl’s cultural significance, covering topics like politics in sports, racial disparities in NFL coaching, the concussion crisis, nationalism in football, sexism in fandom, the 2016 Take a Knee movement, masculinity in commercials, corporate influence in ads, and Super Bowl consumer habits.

I also published a new Discovery from research by Sarah Lageson and Robert Stewart on the inaccuracy of private background checks, revealing widespread false negatives and positives that impact employment, housing, and education, while calling for stronger regulation and privacy protections.

From the Archives

Trump recently signed an order, to go in effect immediately, that bans transgender women from competing in female sports, specifically targeting the 2028 Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles by denying Visas for transgender athletes. This Special Feature from 2023 by Chris Knoester highlights how the anti-trans movement in sports focus on reinvigorating sex and gender binaries, often conflating the two, while also obscuring the need for higher support for womens’ and girls’ sports.

On Wednesday, the CDC released a new report about U.S. maternal mortality. They found that pregnancy-related deaths declined for every race or ethnic group tracked in the report except Black women. In this 2019 piece summarizing research on the topic, Amy August and De Andre’ Beadle discuss how Black Americans, especially women, experience worse health outcomes than white Americans, and Black women are over three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• whose parents are paying? by elena g. van stee highlights new research by Kimberly Goyette and colleagues on college spending, showing that Asian American parents—particularly recent immigrants—pay more for their children’s education than White parents, despite lower average incomes, with spending differences disappearing by the third generation.
• status consistency wanted by sophie x. liu on research by Christopher Marquis, András Tilcsik, and Ying Zhang covering status consistency in hiring, showing that applicants with both elite education and attractiveness are favored for high-status jobs, while those with mismatched traits face disadvantages, highlighting new dimensions of inequality in labor markets.
• the wages of digital emotional labor by sophie x. liu writes up research by Paulina d.C. Inara Rodis on how racialized women navigate online spaces, showing that despite advocating against racism and sexism, they often refrain from responding due to the emotional toll and heightened visibility, highlighting the burden of “digital emotional labor.”
• is authentic dating possible? by giora ashkenazi, highlighting an analysis of AI in dating, arguing that authenticity has always been a social performance shaped by symbolic interaction, and suggesting that meaningful connections can emerge by expanding our comfort with vulnerability in digital and real-world interactions.

Council on Contemporary Families

• Beyond “Good” Sex: Unlocking the Secrets to “Great” Sex by Alicia M. Walker on what makes sex truly great, highlighting the importance of sexual skills, responsiveness, and mindfulness in fostering deeper intimacy, mutual connection, and greater satisfaction beyond physical techniques.