New and Noteworthy

Whether parents are less happy than adults with out kids varies by race and gender in surprising ways according to recent research from Jennifer Augustine and Mia Brantley written up for the site.

From the Archives

Warmer weather have you in the mood for some spring cleaning? Read this archive piece rounding up research on the sociology of dust (?), the division of household labor, and why cleaning is a gendered task as you sweep out those winter cobwebs.

Backstage with TSP

This week Matthew Desmond visited the University of Minnesota to give a public talk on his new book Poverty, by America. Our Society Pages’ board packed a few rows at the very front of the auditorium. It was a fun opportunity to see how long-form sociological work is translated to a live public, especially as we had just read a few chapters of the book together. The presentation was engaging and rich with stories of real people, as is typical of Desmond’s work. We even snagged a few funny inscriptions during book signing time (which you can see above).

More from Our Partner & Community Pages

Dawn Brancati wrote for Sociological Images on how pandemic lockdown measures actually reduced ISIS activity, removing crowd cover and public gatherings such as markets.

Ginevra Floridi wrote for Council on Contemporary Families’ blog on their new research finding that wealthier college-educated parents send more money to their young adult children as inequality increases, such as in the years following the Great Recession.

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The children of undocumented migrants pulled over by police experience both short and long-term emotional harm, fearing their parents detainment or deportation. Expanded access to driver’s licenses could change that according to new research from Robert Smith and colleagues written up by Leonardo LaBarre.

Worth a (Watch) Sociologically Speaking

Watch board member Jacob Otis’s roundup of research on the Child Tax Credit. As parents file their 2022 taxes, they won’t receive the expanded CTC despite evidence that it improved parent and child health.

From the Archives

This week Wellesley, a historically women’s college, voted against admitting any transgender or nonbinary students. For some social scientific context, read this archive piece summarizing research on how transgender policies at women’s colleges actively construct gender.

From Our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts spoke with Dr. Chiara Cooper about her new article in the magazine, exploring the double-binds, compromises, and unwanted sex heterosexual college women experience.

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog, Marta Soler and Ane Lopez de Aguileta wrote about how the book Creative Friendships can help children learn friendship skills and develop values that support their wellbeing.

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Ellie Nickel wrote up recent research from Patrick Sheehan on the surprising appeal of perpetually unemployed career coaches who rely on emotional connections with job-seeking clients in the absence of formal credentials.

Worth a (Listen) Sociologically Speaking

Sociologist Lisa Hajjar discussed her new book investigating the long legal fight against torture and its legacy with radio station KFPA.

Citings and Sightings

The New York Times spoke with sociologists Christina Gibson-Davis and Jeffrey Alexander about how shifts in attitudes towards pregnancy and marriage may have contributed to a rise in mid-pregnancy weddings.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts‘ blog shared a teaching exercise, and Q&A with co-author DeAnna Y. Smith, to help bring their Winter 2023 feature “Child Removal Fears and Black Mothers’ Medical Decision-Making” to the classroom.

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ blog shared a Q&A with Joachim Salvesberg on the International Criminal Courts’ release of arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova related to the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia.

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Check out our write up of new research from Danya Lagos showing that there has not been one “trans tipping point.” Although more people now identify as transgender, the relationship between other social identities and transness has changed over birth cohorts.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

For Contexts Sophie X. Liu shared stef m. shuster and Laurel Westbrook‘s call for exploring joy in sociology with their research showing that authenticity, pride, mental health benefits, and community are elements of trans joy.

Citings and Sightings

The Los Angeles Times drew on the work of Kate Cairns and collaborators, Priya Fielding-Singh, and Caitlyn Collins, and Kathleen Gerson to help us understand why parents, especially mothers, are judged so harshly for how and what they feed their kids.

From the Archives

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Even if today is not the one day of the year you claim Irish ancestry check out our roundup of research on how Irish people (and other European ethnic groups) became white in the United States.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog Jaclyn S. Wong wrote about how her research shows that workplace and childcare, egalitarian cultural models, and coordinated action from partners are all necessary to achieve equal dual-earner partnerships.

Virginia Rutter for Girl w/ Pen shared thoughts on James Butler’s essay “This Concerns Everyone” on the challenges of care which is necessary and costly, both economically and personally, but rarely centered in political debates.

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In Japan the same help-seeking behavior that boosts mental wellbeing in the U.S. leads to decreased life satisfaction & less positive mood according to research from Verity Y. Q. Lua & colleagues written up for the site by Caroline Garland.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

For the Conversation, sociologist Kelsy Burke and Tyler Lefevor examine how religion and political affiliation shape beliefs about transgender rights, focusing in on legislative developments in Utah.

Citings and Sightings

Listen to WBUR Boston speak with sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot on the challenges of transitioning into a “third act” of life without a cultural narrative to support the risk taking and reinvention necessary.

From the Archives

On Tuesday the Supreme Court hear arguments on student loan forgiveness, read this piece from Amber Joy Powell on racial and gender disparities in the burden of student debt.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog, Armin A. Dorri and Stephen T. Russell wrote about their new research showing that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who have more internalized homophobic stigma desire children more but feel they are less likely to achieve parenthood.

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Leonardo LaBarre wrote up new research from Ilya Slavinski and Becky Pettit showing that court fines and fees are not a replacement for incarceration and target the same historically disadvantaged communities.

Citings and Sightings

CBS news spoke with sociologist Mary Brinton and Masahiro Yamada who critiqued Japan’s new match-making initiative, designed to address low birth rates by encouraging marriage, for not addressing the gender inequality and economic insecurity young people face.

From the Archives

With historic winter storms blowing across the United States this week, post-earthquake recovery efforts ongoing in Turkey and Syria, check out this piece from partner Contexts on what social science tells us about natural disasters.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog, Dr. Breanna Boppre wrote about the stressors loved ones of incarcerated people overcome to visit their family members, from transportation time and costs to constant surveillance.

Niya St. Amant wrote for Engaging Sports on the risk and injury associated with high-stakes competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race.

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New research from Kristin Kelley shows that, despite more women choosing to keep their maiden names, wives who do not take their husband’s last names are considered less loyal and loving and farther from the ideal wife.

Citings and Sightings

February is Black History Month but it is not the only time of year we should center conversations around race and racism, according to sociologist Dan Hirschman speaking with USA Today, especially given the organized backlash against racial progress.

From the Archives

For more Black History Month reading, check out this piece from alums Caty Curry and Amber Joy Powell highlighting black women’s long-standing contributions to the discipline.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

New co-editor Seth Abrutyn sat down to discuss how Dr. Anna Mueller and his Contexts piece “Durkheim’s Suicide in the Zombie Apocalypse,” helps make foundational sociological concepts accessible and interesting to students, offering discussion prompts for other instructors hoping to do the same.

Transgender parents may let children explore their gender before ascribing labels, according to new research from Rachel G. Riskind, Samantha L. Tornello, and Mary Campbell shared on Council on Contemporary Families’ blog.

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day we shared some good news for young love. New research from Sara I. Villalta and colleagues found that supportive, low-conflict romantic relationships help teenagers feel happier.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Jenny Enos wrote for Everyday Sociology about how the sociological imagination and the term “emotional labor” can help us explore and understand the experiences and challenges of women choosing to have children later in life.

Citings and Sightings

National Public Radio’s Marketplace spoke with sociologist Carolyn Chen on how her ethnographic research in Silicon Valley, which explores the almost religious devotion of tech workers, can help us understand the identity crises laid-off employees might face.

Backstage with TSP

We’re working on a *secret new project* that has us thinking about how to balance big picture thinking with zooming in on the complexities of life uncovered in social scientific analysis. Whether we’re imagining our audience as the interested public, students, or a skeptical parent who isn’t quite sure why we picked sociology, we need to balance key takeaways with the data and stories that help explain these findings and showcase the relationships or processes we think our readers should care about. Striking this balance is one of the main challenges of how we think about doing public sociology. It helps to view this as a vision rather than a destination, one we work towards everyday as a student board, especially when the excitement for a new undertaking starts fading in light of the reality of the hard work ahead.

More from Our Partner & Community Pages

Deadric T. Williams and Virginia Rutter were re-posted on Council on Contemporary Families’ blog writing about new publications that explore the stubborn problem of viewing family structure as an explanation for black-white racial inequality.

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Board member Jacob Otis wrote up new research from Tony Cheng that shows that community listening sessions are not an impartial venue for residents to raise complaints about the New York Police Department (NYPD). Instead, the NYPD focuses on easily resolvable complaints rather than than “rabble-rousing” topics such as police brutality, favor regular pro-police attendees, and choose venues, such as churches and schools, with existing relationships with the police.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Sara Bruhn wrote for Council on Contemporary Families’ blog about her new research showing that welcoming school districts are an important site of belonging and inclusion for Latino mothers in sanctuary cities.

Citings and Sightings

Axios spoke with Laura E. Gómez and  Nancy López about what a proposed change to the census questions on race and ethnicity could mean for Latinos. Current estimates suggest Latinos were significantly undercounted in the 2020 census.

From the Archives

Yesterday Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Read more about the importance of Groundhog day, and other strange rituals.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

As Contexts gets settled in at their new headquarters at the University of British Columbia, they spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Hirsh about why the policy briefs are one of her favorite sections of the magazine.

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Image description clockwise from upper left 1. Older couple holds hands around a tree. 2. Mars Rover 3. An asian chef holds her hands over a plate, seasoning the food 4. Coach Deion Sanders on the Jackson State sideline at the 2021 SWAC Championship 

New and Noteworthy

Because critics assess them based on “authenticity” and consumers expect them to be cheap, gourmet ethnic restaurants struggle to stay afloat and gain recognition. Check out this new discovery from Gillian Gualtieri written up by board member Abigail Palmer.

Citings and Sightings

Insider spoke with sociologist Janet Vertesi on how her ethnographic work with NASA helps shows that, unlike the general public, scientists do not anthropomorphize the robots they work with but they do feel deeply connected to the technology.

Backstage with TSP

Given Twitter’s uncertain future, and the energy of our board members, particularly our enthusiastic undergrads, we are considering what alternative social media platforms TSP might use to showcase our public sociology work. We aren’t yet sure what this will look like but we are having fun thinking about how we could make TSP go viral and feeling grateful for the advice and participation of a younger, and more trend-sensitive, generation. Do you showcase your academic work on other platforms? Do you wish TSP was on a social media site that you love? Drop us a line at tsp@contexts.org.

From the Archives

This week, we lost co-founder of Sesame Street, Dr. Lloyd Morrisett. Dr. Morrisett leaves behind a powerful legacy of public children’s programming that works to reflect the sometimes tough realities of kids lives, such as parental incarceration.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts spoke with Dr. Ethan Raker about why he is excited about Contexts‘ arrival at the University of British Columbia (spoilers: Great opportunities for grad students! Showcasing UBC’s unique soc perspective! The great Trends section!)

For Engaging Sports Dawn Norwood reflects on what the history of athletics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the reality of the financial and racial inequalities shaping college athletics can tell us about renewed attention to HBCUs.

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog Brittany Stahnke Joy shared her research on what aspects lead to long-term success in marriage.

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Image attribution, clockwise from upper left. 1.“Untitled” by Sofia_Shultz_Photography is licensed under “Pixabay License“ 2. “January 2004 – Mars Rovers Landed” by NASA is in the public domain 3.  “Chef Pam is working on her dish in “The Table” restaurant“ by Thexprojectbkk is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 4. photo via 2C2K Photography licensed under CC BY 2.0