What’s up with what’s up on The Society Pages this week:

Features:

“Health, Science, and Shared Disparities with Brian Southwell,” by Sarah Lageson. Social networks may be great for getting the word out, but that’s highly dependent on the network.

Office Hours Podcast:

“Colter Ellis on the Boundary Labor of Beef Production,” with Sarah Lageson. Love ’em and eat ’em?

The Editors’ Desk:

“There’s More to Methods than Tweaking and Critiquing,” by Chris Uggen. On why it’s refreshing to return to talking about methods as the tools of social science.

Reading List:

“Closing the Happiness Gap,” by Rahsaan Mahadeo. Social policy can affect large-scale happiness, even if it does lead “to a few grumpy 1&’ers.”

“The Personal Mediators of Stereotype,” by Stephen Suh. New work in Ethnic and Racial Studies reveals how personal characteristics change the individual experience of stereotype threat.

There’s Research on That!

“New Nutrition Labels—A Healthier Choice?” by Jacqui Frost. When a label’s not just a label.

“NYC Gets with the Program on Pre-K,” by Amy August. Who benefits from Pre-K, and why do autism diagnoses rise when we get kids in the education system earlier?

Citings & Sightings:

“Trust in Intelligence,” by Andrew Wiebe. Is it smart to trust others?

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How America’s Engorged Prison and Surveillance System Threatens Civic Trust and Democracy,” by Joe Soss. It may be smart to trust others, but it’s a little hard when there’s a camera on every corner.

“The Truth about Health Reform, Jobs, and the Economy,” by Jonathan Gruber. Health care is changing employment, but as a mechanism of voluntary changes, rather than forced stasis.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images shows us Chicago’s disappearing middle class, remembers a time when sugar was a diet aid, and rounds up the month of March.
• Cyborgology explains why a Kickstarted project may be living the dream, but its backers still feel sold out; makes link rot visible (that’s right, even the Internet is aging); and why we should all be ticked off about the death of USAID’s Cuban messaging project ZunZuneo.

Okay, let’s be real. It’s not Friday. But wouldn’t that be fun? We could annoy ourselves with that Rebecca Black song, merrily chirp “T.G.I.F.!” at passers-by, and dream of our weekend plans… none of which I was doing this past Friday, when I was so mired in work I couldn’t look ahead, let alone behind to sum up the week on TSP. Now’s the time for a little reflection!

Features:

“Same-Sex, Different Attitudes,” by Kathleen Hull. A lot’s changed in just a few years—why are American attitudes on same-sex marriage moving so quickly?

The Editors’ Desk:

“Talking about Society with Society,” by Doug Hartmann. An editor comes around.

There’s Research on That!:

“Christian Cinema?” by Evan Stewart. God at the box office: consumption, masculinity, religion, oh my!

Office Hours:

“Kathryn Henne on Sport, Sex Testing, and Fairplay,” with Kyle Green. What constitutes an unfair advantage on the most level of playing fields?

Scholars Strategy Network:

“The Truth about Health Reforms, Jobs, and the Economy,” by Jonathan Gruber.

“Empowering School Districts and Parents to Use Tutors Effectively,” by Carolyn J. Heinrich.

Citings & Sightings:

“Why One Social Network Isn’t Enough for Innovators,” by Letta Page. Sociology and business professor Ronald Burt on two types of networking and why each is essential for an aspiring innovator.

“Maximizing Your Parental Investment in 10 Easy Steps*” by Letta Page. Dalton Conley on the costs of children—arguably our biggest monetary investment—and how to maximize your ROI.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images rounds up their month with the March month in review!
• Cyborgology on location-based dating and hook-up apps like Tindr and SinglesAroundMe and why we should be grumpy that Facebook bought Oculus, because Kickstarter is supposed to set up “relationships based on debt.”
• Sociology Lens gives us a recap of the Religion vs. Science debate and a timeline of the “Crimean War of Signatures” (aka, “Oh good, we’ve all got pens. Now what?”)

Last Week’s Roundup

Spring Break. March Madness. Yet another snow storm. A new volume in production and two getting ready to go to the press. There are lots of great reasons that TSP’s HQ has been quiet this week, but of course, our ambitious grad students, dedicated SSN fellows, and dogged bloggers have been spreading the soc, rain, shine, or sleet (all of which have fallen on us, by the way… we get all the weather).

There’s Research on That!

“E-Cigarettes and Acceptable Substance Use,” by Jacqui Frost. As cities move to regulate e-cigarettes as they do regular smokes, the argument can no longer hinge on the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Citings & Sightings:

“Development and Climate Change,” by John Ziegler. Is there any way to simultaneously curb environmental impacts, increase human health, and encourage economic development? Maybe some maps can help.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Do Term Limits Encourage Legislators to Ignore Constituents?” by Jennifer Hayes Clark and Robert Lucas Williams. In their forced lame-duck terms, office holders meant to be kept from perpetual power may be instead feel free to “go rogue.”

“How Unlikely Allies Can Roll Back America’s Prison Boom,” by David Dagan and Steven M. Teles. Why once tough-on-crime conservatives now have room to fight mass incarceration in the name of fiscal responsibility and responsiveness to persistent crime drops.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Cyborgology on the “1:1 self-to-body ratio” and how it relates to trans- theory and the body/self divide.
• Sociological Images on interspecies petting and what makes humans special, the women’s work that’s valued in Women’s History Month, and the Indian man who lost his wife—then got her back—by trying to tackle the enormous problem of exorbitantly priced menstrual products in his country.
• ThickCulture tries to “Make Sense of the Madness” by taking a look at the statistics and the sociological variables that break our brackets (and make some offer up their phone numbers to companies like Quicken).

Sometimes, time gets away from you! As does debt, as shown in this week’s contribution from Dr. Jason Houle, showing the increase and changes in debt over three generations. Other things that can get away from you: March Madness (I mean, it’s called Madness), the reproduction of sexism and racism, and parental worry.

Features:

“Out of the Nest and Into the Red,” by Jason N. Houle. Three generations of debt reveal changing ideals and life courses. Oh, and debt.

Editors Desk:

“Kristof Panel Podcast: Find It Here!” by Doug Hartmann. A panels of Scholars Strategy Network members recently got their smart on at the Humphrey Center at the University of Minnesota. Kristof Challenge: accepted.

“March Madness and Me, On TV,” by Doug Hartmann. How does March Madness affect productivity, office cohesion, and isolation? We know a guy who can tell you.

Office Hours:

“Knowledge Production and Public Engagement,” by Kyle Green and Sarah Lageson. The aforementioned “Kristof panel,” in all its glory.

“David Schalliol on Sociologically Informed Photography,” by Kyle Green. Put this together with the photos and essay Schalliol recently penned for this site, and you’ve got all the sociological senses covered! We think. Not sure how smell-o-vision would help.

In Case You Missed It:

“Debt and Darkness in Detroit,” by David Schalliol. A community comes together to provide basic services and increase safety. Everyone continues to make Detroit jokes.

Reading List:

“College ‘Credit’,” by Erin Hoekstra. New Soc of Ed research confirms the translation of parental wealth into children’s awesome credit reports, but spots a new problem: the reproduction of racial inequalities through student loan debt.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“The Prison Boom and the Increased Risk of Homelessness for Black Children in the United States,” by Christopher Wildeman. What’s that? Parents who shuttle in and out of prison, saddled with legal debt and records that prevent them from getting jobs, have kids who suffer precarity? Racial disparities in policing increase the proportions of black parents who get put away? Damn. It seems like someone shoulda seen this coming. Dr. Wildeman did.

“How, and Why, to Build a Better Measure of School Quality,” by Jack Schneider. Helping parents truly find (and build) the best schools for their children means getting past standardized test scores.

There’s Research on That!

“E-Cigarettes and ‘Acceptable’ Substance Abuse,” by Jacqui Frost. The rise and fall of acceptable behaviors—and acceptable people.

“Is Bitcoin a Bust?” by Evan Stewart. How currency gains currency.

“Comcast and Time Warner Joining Forces?” by Rahsaan Mahadeo. A sanctioned cable monopoly may well increase the digital divide.

Citings & Sightings:

“The Mental Labor of Working Mothers,” by Kat Albrecht. Eat, sleep, work, parent, stress. Ahh, the working mother’s to-do list. Guess which items get short shrift in the second shift.

Teaching TSP:

“Summer Lovin’ and the Sexual Double Standard,” by Erin Hoekstra. Everything old is new again: time to talk about hookup culture, and we’ve got the resources to help.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images on perhaps the most interesting, but overlooked, character in the Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-ins of the ’60s, whether giving Barbie a career does anything to change her overall lessons, the importance of survey questions’ wording, and how kids absorb and reproduce the world around them.
• Girl w/ Pen! talks to female journalists about sexist newsrooms over time.
• Cyborgology’s David Banks makes Amtrak an offer they can’t refuse.

Last Week’s Roundup

This week we talked about American debt and folded a whole new and incredibly interesting sector of debtors into the conversation: those who’ve gone through the criminal justice system. That’s careful wording, by the way, because you don’t even have to be convicted—just charged—to start racking up legal fees with compounding interest and compounding effects on your future. We also got a look at how race affects school suspensions and the oft-overlooked problem of homelessness among college students. No, it’s not all good news, but with the right information and appropriate action, we can keep moving toward the good news, right? That’s worth something! For palate cleansers, we offer the annual Mardis Gras archive, the DRM-coffee-bot, and why we shouldn’t let law enforcement end up based on the quality of business owners’ gaydar. mesothelioma

Features:

“The Cruel Poverty of Monetary Sanctions,” by Alexes Harris. When legal debt becomes a life sentence, long past time served.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“The Problem of College Students without Reliable Housing,” by Katharine Broton. Student debt goes well beyond tuition.

“North Carolina’s ‘Moral Monday’ Protests in Defense of Equal Voting Rights and Social Protections,” by Rebecca Sager. A hashtag for humanists.

Reading List:

“Divorce is Contagious: Social Networks in Splitsville,” by Sarah Lageson.

There’s Research on That!:

“Language and Political Conflict in Ukraine,” by Scott DeMuth. Deep divides and the long arc of history in social conflict.

“Facebook Expands Gender Categories,” by Rahsaan Mahadeo. Why more choices can also translate to  more constraints, even as they help many feel just a little more human.

“Religious Freedom and Refusing Service,” by Amy August. Not only are the laws ridiculous, how would you possibly enforce them? Gay rights and the trustworthiness of “gaydar.”

Citings & Sightings:

“The Sociology of Oscar-Winning,” by Erin Hoekstra. Who you are, who you know, and just how gritty your role is all help determine your Oscar worth.

A Few From the Community Pages:

• Girl W/ Pen!: Tristan Bridges and C.J. Pascoe take a look at “colorism,” gender, and school suspensions and Kayla Bender-Baird wonders why we’re surprised to see “headless women” in ads in 2014.
• Sociological Images lets the good times roll with the annual Mardis Gras Roundup, talks through first dates vs. first date sex, and, having considered Gillette and the “hair down there” last week, comes up with some info on beard envy and the plastic surgery that lets men get their scruff on.
• Cyborgology points out that, if it costs you to keep your privacy, then it’s not a right, and if your Keurig can tell you’re using off-brand pods, you might be in too deep.



 

 

This week TSP featured great content on immigration, drugs, and healthcare reform from heavy hitters, as well as the incredibly popular Sociological Images monthly recap and a caveat from our editor, keen even with one eye on the Klout scores.

Features:

“Crimmigration”: A Roundtable with Tanya Golash-Boza, Ryan King, and Yolanda Vàsquez, by Suzy McElrath, Rahsaan Mahadeo, and Stephen Suh. What happens when criminal and immigration enforcement come together?

“Are Mexicans the Most Successful Immigrant Group in the U.S.?” by Jennifer Lee. If the American Dream is about upward mobility—doing better than your parents’ generation—we’re looking to the wrong racial and ethnic groups for success stories.

Editors’ Desk:

“Screens for Glass Houses,” by Chris Uggen. Social media makes us all magpies, quick to Tweet and “like” shiny new studies that fit with our worldview. But the good science and the sexy story aren’t often the same.

There’s Research on That!:

“Religious Freedom and Refusing Service,” by Amy August. Some states are looking to legalize selected forms of discrimination and the right for businesses to refuse service. How do religion, public opinion, and politics come together in these bills, and how might the enforcement of such laws work?

“Affordable Healthcare: Job Loss or Job Lock?” by Evan Stewart. The balance of new mobility for those workers gaining healthcare under ACA and the loyalty engendered by workplace flexibility and other structural factors has many worried: will healthcare help or hinder the job market?

“Heroin Use and the Media,” by Scott DeMuth. When high-profile overdoses hit the headlines, it’s tough to tell whether such drug use is increasing, how well anti-drug campaigns work, and whether policy should lean toward harm reduction or criminalization of use.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How Health Reform Makes the Job Market More Flexible and Unleashes Entrepreneurs,” by Theda Skocpol. Dovetailing nicely with this week’s “There’s Research on That,” Skocpol agrees that ACA will give employees the ability to change jobs or even leave the market for entrepreneurial ventures, both opening businesses and opening jobs for the unemployed.

Reading List:

“Teen Pregnancy and the Making of Sexual Citizens,” by Jacqui Frost. A case study of a community health clinic helps demonstrate how norms can be handed out as readily as medications.

Citings & Sightings:

“A (Private) Room with a View,” by Kat Albrecht. What’s lost when there’s no college roommate?

“Want a Better Marriage? Spend More Time with Your Spouse,” by Lisa Gulya. To know them is to love them…

“McSenior Center,” by Andrew Wiebe. As community spaces are forced to close, fast food restaurants aren’t too happy to take on the role.

(Community Pages update to come!)

Reporting live from a snowbank, I’m here to share this week’s picks from The Society Pages! Send provisions—or at least snowblowers—if you can. Or, take a cue from us and hunker down to devour the latest spotlight on the Scholars Strategy Network website: “Lone Star Debacle: The High Price of Obstructing Health Reform.” As their introduction puts it:

Almost a quarter of Texans do not have health insurance—and 13% of all uninsured Americans live in the state. Millions could gain coverage through the Affordable Care Act. But ultra-conservative Texas authorities are doing all they can to block and sabotage reform – hurting health and wellbeing and imposing unnecessary costs on hospitals, community clinics, and state finances.

SSN scholars have looked closely at the extra and unnecessary costs Texas people and health care institutions are paying because of the state’s decisions to obstruct exchange enrollments and refuse new federal funds to expand Medicaid. The picture is not pretty—and the juxtaposition of America’s two largest states, California and Texas, dramatizes the impact of state-level cooperation versus obstruction on the progress of health reform.

The Editors’ Desk:

“A Free Subscription for Nicholas Kristof,” by Chris Uggen. Agreeing that social scientists need to get their data into the public policy arena more forcefully and explicably, Chris Uggen offers NYTimes’ Nick Kristof—and the  rest of the world—a free lifetime subscription to The Society Pages and other open-access arenas.

“Vol. 1, No. 1—Sociological Science,” by Chris Uggen. “No one likes an apple polisher,” but everyone likes a shout-out. A welcome to new kids Sociological Science and Social Currents.

Contexts Magazine:

The latest issue, Winter 2014, is now online, and for one month only, you can download every single article for free! We suggest starting with the cover, by Scholars Strategy Network member and Yale professor Marcus Anthony Hunter, “Black Philly after The Philadelphia Negro.”

Citings & Sightings:

“McSenior Center,” by Andrew Wiebe. With other venues closing, Mickey D’s becomes a hot spot for the aged hob-nobber.

“Almost Human,” by John Ziegler. Kinship and community with our four-legged friends.

Reading List:

“Whiteness: From Worst to First,” by Stephen Suh. New research shows assimilation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, at least in high-tech hubs where whiteness has come to be associated with “laziness” and “academic mediocrity.”

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How Polarization Reduces the Ranks of Republican Women in Congress,” by Danielle Thomsen.

There’s Research on That!

“Race and Self-Defense in the Courtroom,” by Evan Stewart. Who gets to claim what defense? Scholars give us the scoop.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images helps show how corporations can change cultural preferences with a look at Gillette’s response to the resurgence of beards—they’re pushing “manscaping” by using sex and insecurity to problematize the au naturel body.
• Girl w/ Pen! takes a look at paid family leave and finds it wanting in the wake of the firing of a Whole Foods employee who needed to attend to a family emergency.
• Sociology Lens finds a pernicious ethnocentrism and amped up nationalism in the spectacle of world sport (USA! USA! What? Whoops.)

This week we unveiled our new TSP on Topic pages, where you can find a curated selection of our content in six major areas. The left hand side of each page is content directly from TSP’s departments, including features, interviews, and other goodies, and the right highlights pieces from our “Community Pages”—our suite of lively, engaging blogs that reveal the sociological imagination at work. Links are on the homepage—have at ’em!

Features:

“Debt and Darkness in Detroit,” by David Schalliol. A socio-photographer on why Detroit’s scared of the dark.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Bones and Stakes in the Sociological Imagination,” by Doug Hartmann. Fighting for the soul of sociology, or Why sociologists need the sociological imagination more than anyone.

Reading List:

“Selling the Sin-Free Life,” by Evan Stewart. New research on how churches talk to parishioners about porn.

There’s Research on That:

“Can Macklemore Feel the Love?” by Evan Stewart. A guide to the care and feeding of allies in social justice movements.

“Olympic Events: From Ski-Jumping to Security,” by Amy August. Togetherness in a time of terror (and why we should give those biathletes more credit… they can ski and shoot).

Citings & Sightings:

“The Height of Romance,” by Kat Albrecht. Skee-Lo was right: if you were a little bit taller, you could probably get a girl, call her. By don’t you want to know why?

“Looking for Love in Hookup Culture,” by Molly Goin. Cosmopolitan magazine calls on a half dozen social scientists (and doesn’t body-shame any of them!).

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Can Global Civic Campaigns Democratize International Regulation?” by Barbara Hosto-Marti.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images presents its annual Valentine’s Day Roundup.
• Girl W/ Pen! envisions one nation, with liberty and justice and feminism for all.
• Cyborgology reveals the conservative social scientist and why leaving academia can mean missing out on data.

In Case You Missed It:

“Repercussions of Incarceration on Close Relationships,” by Megan Comfort. How families must learn to love through the glass.

This week, on The Editors’ Desk*, Doug Hartmann enumerated and tried to define** six elements of the sociological worldview. Elsewhere on The Society Pages, our many contributors worked to demonstrate that worldview—enjoy!

*That’s right: we all share one desk. It’s adorable. Possibly even adorkable.

**See what I did there? The man never met a conjunction he didn’t like.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Representing the Field: What—and Where—is ‘Sociology’?” by Doug Hartmann. A call to arms and lenses, a reorientation and focusing of the sociological imagination, and a sort of manifesto from our co-editor. Also: an adorable photo and a kerfuffle over the spelling of (w)holistic.

There’s Research on That!

“Marketing Men at the Superbowl,” by Stephen Suh. Watching ads to spot changes in the construction of masculinity over time. From manly men to happy losers to men in crisis… what will this Sunday bring?

“Can Bill Gates Close the Condom Gap?” by Molly Goin and Jacqui Frost. The public health effort that’s spawned a million jokes, Bill Gates’ race for the next-best-condom is both serious business and surprisingly sociological.

Citings & Sightings:

“An Unlikely Rap Sheet,” by Kat Albrecht. NPR explores the use of rap lyrics in courtrooms. Poetry and self-expression or incriminating confession?

Office Hours:

“Brian Southwell on Social Networks and Popular Understanding of Science and Health,” with Sarah Lageson. Who you know and how you feel: a short interview about public health (it’s not clinical, it’s social) and the public’s view of health (some sociology would help).

The Reading List:

“Learning to See the Spectrum,” by Evan Stewart. New research from Gil Eyal on the social and cultural changes that have helped shift autism from a specific, and rare, diagnosis to a spectrum of symptoms that now comprise a largely family-diagnosed American epidemic. Just the latest example of the social construction of health and illness.

Scholars’ Strategy Network:

“The Future of America’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ Reforms,” by Linda Forman Naval.

“Can Philanthropists Engineer Effective School Reforms?” by Sarah Reckhow.

In Case You Missed It:

“Stars, Strife, and Education,” by Hollie Nyseth Brehm. A short look at research on the ties between low educational attainment and depression.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociology Lens. Changing discourse in the UK changes the frame on climate change: what was once a crisis is now a bunch of “green crap.”
• Cyborgology. “The Curatorial Life“: how we “perform” our lives through a series of choices about incoming and outgoing information.
• ThickCulture. “An Account of the Rise of Modern Conservatism” jumps off a “crash course” video by John Green to outline three eras of modern political conservatism in the U.S.
• Sociological Images. “What’s Ikea For?” explores how cultures determine how public and private spaces are used. In China, Ikea’s practically a pick-up joint. Also, SocImages gets some help from Sociology Source in demonstrating the unseen power of language in talking about social problems—in this case, the gap in men’s and women’s pay (clearly, Michelle Bachman didn’t read this one).

Last Week’s Roundup

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From racial codes to technology design, “bland erotic pudding,” and why college is still worth the cost (but maybe shouldn’t be)—all that and a bag of weed (well, an article on the uneven policing of possession) on this week’s Friday Roundup!

In Case You Missed It:

“Woman Enough to Win?” Cheryl Cooky and Shari L. Dworkin on the history of gender and sex-testing in Olympic sport, just in time for Sochi!

Features:

“Students Squeezed by an Hourglass Economy,” by Robert Crosnoe. How college is still worth the cost, how those who benefit most are least likely to get a college education, and why decoupling “good” jobs from degrees could help everyone.

Citings & Sightings:

“Women and Poverty,” by Kat Albrecht. “When women do well, men do well and our nation does well.” So maybe equal pay and educational access are good things? Hrm.

Reading List:

“The Personal (Finance) is Political,” by Evan Stewart. New research finds odd behavior: support for social support programs hinges more on party affiliations than personal finances.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Can Investigations of Disasters Go Beyond Rhetoric to Yield Meaningful Lessons?” by Thomas A. Birkland.

“Shattering the Glass Ceiling for Women in Politics,” by Shauna Shames.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images. Soc. nerds were thrilled to be reminded of MLK’s sociology BA, everyone wondered “Whose economic recovery is it?“, and we learned the amazing phrase “bland erotic pudding.” K-Y mocked its presumed customers, Richard Sherman de-coded the word “thug,” and marijuana policing continued to be its own code (in short: arresting black people).
• Cyborgology. On the bro-tastic world of dubstep, Technologically Mediated Embodiment, and why the end-user designers envision is nearly always themselves.
• Girl w/ Pen! In a “flash roundtable,” GWP grabbed some top scholars and thinkers to discuss an NYTimes piece.

Last Week’s Roundup