Semesters come and go, but The Society Pages, much like the rest of society, keeps on keeping on, summer, spring, winter, or fall. Last week we finished up delivering the content for our next TSP volume (Owned, a look at the new sociology of debt), this week we’ll have our editorial “Retreat to Move Forward” (h/t “30 Rock,” though without the Six Sigma), and next week we’ll deliver the content for the fifth TSP volume, a culture reader. Last week also saw the arrival of the latest issue of the ASA’s Contexts magazine, with all content available online for free for the first time ever. Like anyone, when we’re mired in this much work, it’s often hard to see the milestones as true achievements or notice the big picture project that’s getting accomplished day by day. To that end, let me be the first to say congratulations to The Society Pages on its first five books, its first two years, and its tremendous achievements in using sociology to contextualize the news.

Contexts Magazine:

Spring 2014 includes “The Terrorists Next Door,” “Little Free Libraries,” Ruling Out Rape,” and “Working Class Growing Pains,” among much other great scholarship. Click through to read and share the full issue!

There’s Research on That!

“Mass Shootings and the ‘Man’ifesto,” by Evan Stewart. “Mass shootings are rare, but the culture that creates them is not.”

“How to Give Birth the ‘Right’ Way,” by Jacqui Frost. On the medicalization of childbirth, safety, and social control.

Roundtables:

“The Enduring Effect of Online Mug Shots,” by Sarah Lageson. Just imagine: your aunt Googles you because she can’t remember what college you went to. Now she knows you were arrested for DUI eight years ago. What purposes do online mugshots serve?

Office Hours:

“Peter McGraw and Joel Warner on Humor,” with Richie LeDonne. Humor and the power of subversion.

The Reading List:

“Art Goes for Looks, Patrons Go for Status,” by Evan Stewart.

Citings & Sightings:

“Reproducing Reality in Fantasy-Land: Online Gaming and Offline Behaviors,” by Letta Page.

“Alice Goffman: Telling the Tale of Extreme Ethnography,” by Amy August.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Make the First Two Years of College Free—A Cost-Effective Way to Expand Access to Higher Education in America,” by Sarah Goldrick-Rab and Nancy Kendall.

A Few From the Community Pages:

• Chris Uggen writes “Elliot Rodger and Violence Against Women,” adding real data to real tragedy on Public Criminology.
• Sociological Images takes a look at persistent racism, sexist headlines, the appropriation of the swastika, and that New Orleans’ staple: the go-cup. They reiterate the best advice for college grads this side of the Internet and analyze gender and reporting the nation’s newspaper of record.
• Girl w/ Pen! takes on a new study that shows women who work still feel more stressed when they’re at home than at the office, suggesting flexible work options might lessen the load, increasing productivity and productive leisure.
• Cyborgology on adding new words to the dictionary, new privacy settings to Facebook, and new earworms via the “Selfie” song.
• New Books in Sociology interviews the authors of “Social Insecurity: 401(k)s and the Retirement Crisis” and “No Book But the World.”

What’s new at “online sociology’s place to be” (yes, someone great said that about TSP; yes, we’re still proud).

Roundtable:

“The Enduring Effects of Online Mugshots,” by Sarah Lageson. We look to Danielle Dirks, Travis Linneman, Naomi Sugie, and Kate West to talk privacy and information in the age of the viral mugshot. No, we did not check to see if they have online mugshots.

There’s Research on That!

“#BringBackOurGirls Needs More than a Media Boost,” by Molly Goin. Slacktivists can still put a spotlight on an issue, but the international community has to rely on hostage-taking data for more concrete action.

“Michael Sam, Sport, and Sexuality,” by Stephen Suh. Even in professional contact sports, sexuality’s taking a backseat to talent. OR: That time ESPN reporters saw an interracial gay kiss live on camera and commented only on the excitement of athletes’ families.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Trending in Research,” by Doug Hartmann. Gettin’ meta with inequality research research.

Citings & Sightings:

“Economists against the War on Drugs,” by Andrew Wiebe. The world’s most prominent economists willing to let a black market go rather than rack up human expenses.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“What We Know—and Still Need to Learn—about the Impact of Vouchers on Students and Schools,” by Joshua M. Cowen.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images brings us the racial code of NFL draft reports, the correlation between standardized test scores and adult income, and two theories on Godzilla’s growing girth.
• Cyborgology talks “duckface” and blaming the victim, the accidental researcher betrayal, and why WePay should let money be money.

 

In which a commenter uses the excellent phrase “The Oppression Olympics,” photographs challenge our understanding of things like what an execution or a fetus “is,” and we learn how blind people conceptualize race and fashion people conceptualize time. Somewhere in there, we found the time to throw a big ol’ party. Nice work, TSP!

Features:

“All Together, Now: Producing Fashion at the Global Level,” by Claudio E. Benzecry. Following the globalized production of a shoe gives us a glimpse into the timetables that get us fast fashion and fresh fish.

Office Hours:

“Osagie Obosagie on Race and (Color)Blindness,” with Sarah Lageson. Fascinating research helps us see different aspects of social and legal discrimination.

“Lane Kenworthy on Inequality and Social Policy,” with Evan Stewart. What social scientists can do to contribute to political debates and help raise equality.

The Editors’ Desk:

“History, Race, and the NBA,” by Doug Hartmann. Is the NBA just a *touch* too proud of itself for doing the right thing?

“Awareness, Not an Apology,” by Paul R. Croll. Why the “Princeton privilege kid” doesn’t need to apologize for his privilege, just acknowledge it.

The Reading List:

“Creating the Line Between ‘Animal’ and ‘Meal’,” by Scott DeMuth. On the boundary labor of cattle ranchers, or why they can name a cow and commoditize it with minimal dissonance.

There’s Research on That!

“On Being ‘Basic,’” by Emily M. Boyd. In a guest #TROT, Boyd asks who *are* these “basic bitches” and why is calling them out bad for, umm, everyone?

“Women at Work: When Self Help Isn’t Help Enough,” by Penny Edgell. Our second guest #TROT! Edgell looks at recent calls for women to negotiate like a man, lean in, and get confident in the workplace, and shows that you can do all that and still not get the promotion.

Citing & Sightings:

“The Internet Knows When You’re Pregnant,” by Kat Albrecht. To try to hide your pregnancy from the Internet, you’ve got to learn to use tech like a drug dealer.

“How Often Are Executions ‘Botched’?” by Letta Page. After Oklahoma’s recent failure, Amherst College’s Austin Sarat gives “All Things Considered” some numbers to consider.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Women Have a Strong Stake in Sustainable Development—and Female Clout Can Help Achieve It,” by Laura McKinney.

“Why Meeting the Global Warming Challenge Is So Difficult,” by Bryan Brophy-Baermann.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images sends birthday greetings to Marx, considers the logic and emotion behind inequality concerns, and looks at the sexual politics of veganism and the power of a photograph.
• Cyborgology talks labors of love, when workout music got reduced to beats per minute, and the work of creating and enforcing anti-harassment public spaces, online and off.
• Girl w/ Pen considers violence and masculinity threat and the intersection of Thomas Piketty and Jane Austen.

Last Week’s Roundup

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The following piece on double-checking your privilege is a guest post by Augustana College sociologist Paul R. Croll.

Once again, a white man wants to deny white privilege because it makes him feel uncomfortable. Tal Fortgang, a Princeton freshman, recently wrote an essay being widely distributed titled, “Checking My Privilege: Character as the Basis of Privilege.” In denying white privilege, Fortgang actually makes a convincing case that it exists and that his family’s success is due in part to advantages received in our racialized society.

Fortgang resents feeling that he owes others an apology for his success and condemns those who want to deny him credit for all the hard work he has accomplished in his life. I don’t know who these “others” are. I certainly am not looking for an apology nor do I believe that all his successes are due to white privilege alone. Fortgang has constructed an inaccurate representation of white privilege that he then proceeds to dismantle in his essay.  Awareness of white privilege does not require an apology and it does not deny individual hard work and effort. Rather, white privilege is acknowledging the possibility that some of the successes whites have experienced are due in part to systemic advantages. White privilege is benefiting from the absence of barriers that people of color face every day.

Fortgang describes the atrocities his ancestors faced in Europe as Jews in Poland prior to immigrating to America. Their suffering is real, but it does not negate the possibility that his ancestors benefited from white privilege once they arrived in America. In fact, Fortgang’s story of his grandparents’ success in America is proof of white privilege. He recognizes that his grandparents found a place where they could “acclimate to a society that ultimately allowed them to flourish.” This is white privilege. As Fortgang’s grandparents and parents realized the American Dream, people of color in this country faced barriers and discrimination in housing, employment, and education that prevented them from reaching the same levels of success. In the mid-twentieth century, federal programs such as the G.I. Bill allowed white Americans to find jobs, buy houses, and get an education, but people of color were largely excluded from these programs. Certainly Fortgang’s ancestors worked hard, but that is not the question at hand. The more important question is whether or not his ancestors benefited from a society where their hard work allowed them to flourish, while others were denied the same opportunity.Certainly Fortgang’s ancestors worked hard, but that is not the question at hand. In fact, Fortgang’s story of his grandparents’ success in America is proof of white privilege.

People of color who grew up in the same era as Fortgang’s ancestors had to contend with Jim Crow laws, legally-segregated schools, racial violence, and bigotry. While we have made great strides in the post-civil rights era, we continue to see racial discrimination in employment, wealth, education, and the criminal justice system. In a recent audit study, researchers found that employers discriminated against African Americans and Latinos in job searches and “black job seekers fared no better than white men just released from prison.” The wealth gap between whites and people of color continues to grow. A study by the Pew Research Center found that “in 2009, the median wealth of white households was 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households.” A report from the United States Department of Education earlier this year found persistent racial disparities in access to preschool programs and AP courses and significant differences by race in disciplinary actions. Data from the criminal justice system show that young black men are being incarcerated at staggering rates.

Hard work alone does not guarantee success. To say otherwise is to ignore our nation’s history. As a white male, I benefit from white privilege every day whether or not I choose that privilege. This does not diminish my own hard work and effort, but it does situate my success in a larger context that I have to consider. I grew up in a white suburb full of well-funded schools and countless opportunities. Today, banks want to lend me money. Police officers don’t stop and frisk me; they ask how they can help me. And, when I walk into a room to give a talk, no one questions my authority or credibility because of how I look. This is privilege, plain and simple.White privilege exists whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Banks want to lend me money. Police officers ask how they can help me. And when I walk into a room to give a talk, no one questions my authority or credibility because of how I look. This is privilege.

White privilege exists whether we want to acknowledge it or not. White privilege is the chance to succeed in our society without facing barriers that affect our ability to succeed and thrive. It’s the same privilege our parents and grandparents received. We don’t need an apology. We need awareness.

Cinco de Mayo should bring about excitement, as should “May the Fourth Be with You” and May Day, for that matter. But around here, they’re signaling the winding down of a semester and the ramping up of all those projects shunted aside when professors and students are too busy in classrooms to tie up the loose ends on their dissertations and articles and books (oh my!). The good news is that this brings a bumper crop of great material for TSP, too, and we have lots of great articles coming your way in the next few weeks—so long as we manage to get our next two book manuscripts to press! In the meantime, here’s what’s going on across our (luckily) vast site.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Donald Sterling Sociology,” by Doug Hartmann. “I still have no idea how this guy was set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP in L.A.”

“Why Shaming Sterling Wasn’t (and Isn’t) Enough,” by Max Fitzpatrick. “Instead of merely being what Marx sarcastically called “critical critics,” we should bring attention to—and [work] to change—the poor social conditions and institutional discrimination disproportionately faced by people of color.”

There’s Research on That!

“The Culture of Cosmos,” by Stephen Suh. Religion vs. science, coming at you weekly on a local Fox affiliate.

“The Culture of Cosmos II: Space and Race,” by Stephen Suh. deGrasse Tyson has made it clear: there aren’t enough opportunities for minorities in STEM fields. This makes his own presence as a major media authority on science extra important.

Citings & Sightings:

“‘Brown Eggs’ and the Hush-Hush Infertility Gap,” by Letta Page. Married black women have twice the infertility problems of their white counterparts—why aren’t we hearing more about it?

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Health and Access Improved after the 2006 Massachusetts Reforms that Paved the Way for Federal Health Reform,” by Philip J. Van der Wees. Take heart! Eight million newly insured Americans? It’s not going to make health outcomes worse.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images gets in the way-back machine to look at the fantasies ads are selling.
• Cyborgology on the meanings of words and thoughts on drones post-TtW14.
• ThickCulture on measuring the health of democracies (hey! you! don’t duck the question…).
• Girl w/ Pen! on how women and the GDP are linked (and not just in that way where women produce stuff and things).

Last Week’s Roundup

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Or: On Snark and Solutions

Eds note: This is a guest post from Max Fitzpatrick of Central New Mexico Community College and the University of New Mexico.

Recently there has been a lot of righteous finger-wagging at racist comments uttered by older white personalities. When celebrity chef Paula Deene, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, and rebellious rancher Cliven Bundy spoke bad words about black people, mainstream and social media pounced.

Deene and Sterling are economic elites who have made fortunes employing black labor and selling black culture. It is sadly ironic that they disparage the very group whose alienated labor they exploit and whose culture they have commodified. But the popular criticism of their racist statements has not approached such a systemic analysis—remaining instead at the surface level of the individual. The uproar chastises these people as racist celebrities, when the real danger is that they are authority figures presiding over economically powerful institutions with broad cultural influence. Racism matters most when it is combined with power. But the internet snarkfest has avoided that point almost entirely.

Ostensibly progressive white pundits, hipsters and intellectuals flaunted their antiracist bona fides by trashing the curmudgeonly old racists. These eager acts of reproach came fast and furious at the low hanging fruit of racist white people forged in an era of racist white supremacy (which itself shows that cultural change often comes at the pace of generational replacement).

But the critical finger-pointing from the left seemed to be more about feeling good about ourselves than actually engaging in a meaningful conversation about race and racism.But the critical finger-pointing from the left seemed to be more about feeling good about ourselves than actually engaging in a meaningful conversation about race and racism.

Of course, we should call out racist statements from quarters both lofty and low. As classical sociologist Emile Durkheim might contend, punishing racist deviants in the court of public opinion is necessary for society to reaffirm its antiracist values, to create social cohesion based, in part, on social norms against racism.

However, we cannot content ourselves with cyber-tar-and-feathering the ancient miscreants. Indicting individuals alone leaves wholly unscathed the root of the problem.

Another classical sociologist, Karl Marx, made the point that people’s beliefs derive from the society in which they live and work. Changing people’s beliefs, then, cannot be accomplished by argument and shaming alone. You have to alter the base of society. In The German Ideology, Marx wrote:

all forms and products of consciousness cannot be dissolved by mental criticism, by resolution into “self-consciousness” or transformation into “apparitions,” “spectres,” “fancies,” etc. but only by the practical overthrow of the actual social relations which gave rise to this idealistic humbug; that not criticism but revolution is the driving force of history

Accordingly, we cannot end the ideological specter of racism by gleefully spewing snark in response to select individuals’ racist statements. To change beliefs, we have to change the system.

Vociferous finger-wagging makes us feel good and righteous about ourselves, but it does nothing to change the material foundations of racism. Unequal group relations and institutional racism go unmentioned as the internet gangs up on a few old white racists. No matter how many poignant reprimands we make of racist individuals’ speech, the conditions black people face in this society will remain unchanged.

We jail blacks six times more than we jail whites. Blacks live four years fewer than whites. Black unemployment is more than double white unemployment. The high school dropout rate for black students is 40% higher than the rate for white students.Instead of merely being what Marx sarcastically called “critical critics”—those who attempt social redress through words alone—we should take these opportunities to bring attention to—and to change—the poor social conditions and institutional discrimination disproportionately faced by people of color.

Instead of merely being what Marx sarcastically called “critical critics”—those who attempt social redress through words alone—we should take these opportunities to bring attention to—and to change—the poor social conditions and institutional discrimination disproportionately faced by people of color. Attacking the material foundations of the problem will be more effective than simply laughing at the wrinkled old symptoms of the problem.

And it will still make us feel good about ourselves.

Pretense: Dropped.

That’s right, we’re just going with it. I sometimes don’t have time to do the Roundup on Fridays, but I know you, the adoring TSP public, need to know! Hence, most likely the Friday Roundup will continue on Mondays for a bit, but hey, sometimes I’ll mix it up. Isn’t that what good Internetz users do? Wait. I’ve gotta go check with the hip kids…

Here’s what’s happened on TSP in the last week!

Brilliance: Also Dropped.

Features:

“Music and the Quest for a Tribe, with Jenn Lena,” by Sarah Lageson. From rockabilly kids to dubsteppers and punks, finding our musical tribe can be a key part of creating identity.

Office Hours:

“Discussing the Civic Imagination with Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Elizabeth A. Bennett, Alissa Cordner, Peter Taylor Klein, and Stephanie Savell,” by Arturo Baiocchi. Reporting on how civically active Americans understand, talk, and act on their different visions of social change with the authors of The Civic Imagination.

There’s Research on That!

“Affirmative Action and Racial Inequality,” by Evan Stewart. Racial inequality and discrimination are real, and diversity “happy talk” is doing little to fix that fact.

Citings & Sightings:

“Not Your Typical June Cleaver,” by Erin Hoekstra. On the complexities of a Pew Research report that stay-at-home moms are on the rise.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“People with Family Members in Prison Are Less Likely to be Engaged American Citizens,” by Hedwig Lee, Lauren Porter, and Megan Comfort. The sense of powerlessness experienced by prisoners’ loved ones seems to be keeping them away from civic engagement: they wonder, what can they do to change the world?

“While California Expands Insurance Coverage, Texas Blocks Health Reform—Despite Greater Needs,” by Ling Zhu and Markie McBrayer. Comparing the two biggest states and their reactions to federal subsidies to expand Medicare had a few scary results. Texans? Just go ahead and get vaccinated right about now, okay? For everything. Thanks.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Cyborgology continues its panel previews for #TtW14.
• Sociological Images shares a scary Saturday Stat, compares breasts and chests, and wonders what professors do all day.
• Girl w/ Pen! encourages one arena for gender division: health care metrics.
• A Backstage Sociologist has a heavy heart after checking out a graph comparing BA fields of study from the ’70s to today.

Last Week’s Roundup

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Sometimes, it turns out to be Monday.

But there’s still great stuff to read from last week!

Office Hours:

“Matt Wray on the ‘Suicide Belt’,” with Scott DeMuth. A podcast on the wide swath of the Western U.S. where suicides cluster.

There’s Research on That:

“On Heartbleed and Hackers,” by Evan Stewart. What sociologists know about the subcultures and criminal habitus of the hacker.

Citings & Sightings:

“Young Girls Consider Sexual Violence Normal,” by Kat Albrecht. #EverydaySexism in full effect.

“Movin’ On Up?” by John Ziegler. More results from projects like the Moving to Opportunity experiment in Baltimore show counseling is crucial to the “opportunity” portion of the move.

Reading List:

“Moving to Mental Health Opportunities,” by Amy August. Kismet! More research shows the mental health of women in the Moving to Opportunity experiment improved over time!

The Editors’ Desk:

“Tax Time Sociology,” by Doug Hartmann. Three great works on capitalism and society help Doug procrastinate on filing.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How Mass Incarceration Undermines America’s Democratic Way of Life,” by Glenn C. Loury.

“So Far, Divergent Paths for Health Reform in New England,” by Amy Fried.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Girl w/ Pen! asks why we even bother with “Equal Pay Day.”
• Sociological Images asks when we stopped being afraid of quicksand and why anyone would flip a graph upside down for aesthetics but not have an editor to point out, umm, now the data looks dead wrong.
• Cyborgology asks “Why aren’t you at the Theorizing the Web Conference?” but keeps us updated on the panels anyway.

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A tag-cloud for this week’s roundup might be astounding and jarring, since it runs the gamut from candy and cohabitation to affirmative action revision, diversity trends among the powerful, community health centers in Texas, and 20 years of remembrance in Rwanda. Herewith: what we’ve been up to this week.

Features:

“Trends at the Top: The New CEOs Revisited,” by Richie Zweigenhaft and Bill Domhoff. A look at who’s sitting in the corner office—or just outside it, nose pressed to the glass—reveals a new trend in diversity.

“How Recent Immigration Complicates Our Racial Justice Policies,” by Asad L. Asad. Should affirmative action be reformed to include newer, but still marginalized, groups within the U.S.?

Office Hours:

“Samira Kawash on Candy,” with Kyle Green. The self-proclaimed @candyprofessor joins us for a look at the rise and fall and rise and fall—oh god, is this a sugar high?—of candy’s rep in American culture.

There’s Research on That!

“Remembering Rwanda 20 Years Later,” by Rahsaan Mahadeo. Excellent sociological work on the Rwandan Genocide, the creation of genocide as an international crime, and the ways societies remember tragedy.

Editors’ Desk:

“So You Wanna Write for TSP?” by Letta Page. We always love new authors and new pitches; here’s how to make the most out of your idea+TSP so that you can get to 2getha 4eva.

Citings & Sightings:

“Popular Kids Get Bullied, Too,” by Molly Goin. Or, “Yes, Junior High is Lame, in Varying Degrees from Awful to Criminal, for Everyone.”

“Financial Planning with the Three Six Mafia,” by Erin Hoekstra. The Urban Institute measured 8 American cities’ sex economies, and to no one’s surprise, it’s a booming trade.

“To Cohabitate or Not To Cohabitate,” by Kat Albrecht. Good news for urbanites: living together before marriage (and certainly in lieu of it) is unlikely to raise your chances of divorce.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“The Struggle to Restore Voting Rights for Former Prisoners—And a Telling Success in Rhode Island,” by Michael Leo Owens.

“How Community Health Centers and Millions of Uninsured Are Hurt by the Refusal to Expand Medicaid in Texas,” by Jessica Sharac, Peter Shin, and Sara Rosenbaum.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Cyborgology on deciding who gets to lead a top-tier Internet browser company.
• Sociological Images on a banal, but powerful way, for the privileged to change the rules for everyone.
• Girl w/ Pen! on the glitz, insights, corporate feminism, powerful communication, and sponsored placement competing for time at Tina Brown’s Women in the World summit.

Last Week’s Roundup

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Well, we’re pretty sure you can, too—no dance-offs required. Still, there are some guidelines that will help you in pitching an article idea and getting from proposal to finished product. We work hard to make sure that this is a rewarding, relatively painless process in which your words get the special treatment from our editorial staff and your graphics get spiffed up by our excellent graduate student Suzy McElrath. Here’s how to get started:

1. TSP is not a typical journal. Broadly, we want to publish big picture articles that can provide basic data and information missing from public debates, supply context to the news, or add sociological insights to the general public.
2. Jargon lover? Strip it out to the extent that you can. Again, we have an enormous and lively audience of readers, and there’s no way all million of them are sociologists. They don’t speak academic-ese, so you’ll have to try to drop it. When it’s useful, use the terminology but add a parenthetical that explains it informally.
3. Now, if you’re still feeling excited and want to get a little feedback before diving in to a full-length draft, send us the following:

• Your hook. What’s the intriguing first sentence? What’s the five-word title of true interest? We prefer titles without colons or question marks, so try to go for interest over explanation in your title. Let the paper do that work.
• Your first paragraph; we’d like an idea of what your style is and where you’re going with the piece.
• The overall point. What do you want readers to take away from the piece?
• Your recommended readings. We’d like to see 4-6 recommended readings that will help the lay reader who is interested in learning more about your topic. If it’s not behind a paywall, awesome! Eventually, we would also like a descriptive sentence that explains why each reading is particularly useful or ground-breaking.

Now you’re ready! Get that sociological imagination in gear, because open-access AND the chance to make it into a print volume is just too cool to pass up.

letta@thesocietypages.org
hartm021@umn.edu
uggen001@umn.edu