weekly roundup

Happy Friday everyone! We’ve got lots of great new stuff on the site this week, so be sure to stop by and check it out!

There’s Research on That!:

In “The Politics of Pink,” Sarah Catherine Billups reviews research that complicates the “pink culture” surrounding breast cancer awareness campaigns.

Discoveries:

“‘Traditional Women’ and Modern Migration” by Allison Nobles. Anju Mary Paul finds that, despite what looks to be a break from traditional gender norms, migrant women often frame their movement as a means to fulfill their roles as mothers and wives.

Office Hours:

Joanna Kempner talks to Matt Gunther about the “Gender Politics of Migraine.”

Clippings:

“Discrimination Harms Transgender Health,” by Allison Nobles. Lisa R. Miller and Eric Anthony Grollman talk to US News about the disproportionate discrimination trans people experience and how that relates to poor health outcomes.

“Can Being Buried Alive Be a Good Thing?” by Neeraj Rajasekar. Margee Kerr talks to ABC News about the benefits of overcoming our fears.

From Our Partners:

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Are Gender Stereotypes A Problem For Female Candidates?” by Nichole Bauer.

Contexts:

“Pete Wells: Nytimes Food Critic, Accidental Sociologist,” by Josh Page.

“What 5 Disciplines (Not Sociology) Say About Ex-offender Re-entry,” by Brittany Dernberger

And a Few from the Community Pages:

• Education and Society on the social construction of first generation college students.
• Girl w/Pen chooses mercy for Planned Parenthood.
• Cyborgology talks Playboy putting clothes on and the social nature of computer programming.
• Feminist Reflections points to powerful women in politics.
• Sociological Lens uses Bourdieu to analyze literary fiction awards.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Hello everyone! Here’s a look at what TSP has been up to this week.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Thoughts on immigration policy and race,” by Doug Hartmann, on the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.

There’s Research on That!:

Discoveries:

“Higher Education Lowers Depression” by Sarah Catherine Billups. New work from Shawn Bauldry captures the difference a degree makes for disadvantaged populations.

Clippings:

From Our Partners:

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How Erratic Schedules Penalize Workers.” by Naomi Gerstel. “Just-in-time” scheduling is great for employers, but just not enough for working families that need a stable workday.

Contexts:

“Black in Black Rock City.” Steven Thrasher explores race at Burning Man.

And a Few From the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images on American gun laws and the tragedy of the false negative
• Cyborgology talks bad news on Facebook.
• Families As They Really Are looks at the new U.S. Department of Education college scorecard
• Sociology Lens looks at race and the politics of natural hair.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Happy October everyone! As it (finally) starts to cool off outside, cozy up with some great reads from our grad board, partners, and community pages.

There’s Research on That!:

“A ‘Blank Space’ for Women in Music?” by Jacqui Frost. Reviews of Ryan Adams’ cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 highlight how gender affects who gets credit for creativity in the music industry.

Discoveries:

“‘New Governance’ and Privatization Increase Inequality” by Neeraj Rajasekar. George Wilson, Vincent Roscigno, and Matt Huffman find that the privatization of the public sector has led to increased inequality in both the public and private sectors.

From Our Partners:

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Unworkable Immigration Proposals From Donald Trump – And Other Republican Presidential Contenders” by Anna O. Law.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Remember the Men” by Virginia Rutter.

And a Few From the Community Pages:

• Education and Society talks education for the incarcerated.
• Cyborgology debates the pros and cons of trigger warnings.
• Families As They Really Are discusses gender discrimination in parental leave policies.
• Sociological Lens makes sense of the “social” in social media and the “angry” activist.
• Feminist Reflections reflects on Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Hello everyone! Our new graduate editorial board is settled in and doing big things at TSP this week. We launched a new topic tab devoted to covering health and medicine, TROT is back on the beat, and our newest members are already hard at work to bring you the latest in great social science.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Health Page Can’t Wait!” Chris Uggen introduces our newest topic page curated by Sarah Catherine Billups and Caty Taborda.

Office Hours Interview:

Peter Hall on Sociological Memoir with Matt Gunther. Peter M. Hall looks at the way personal memories help us understand place and history.

There’s Research on That!:

“The Social Life of Autism and ASD” by Sarah Catherine Billups. Social networks don’t just spread germs, they also help us make sense of sickness.

“Refugees and Social Instability” by Evan Stewart and Miray Philips. In the wake of Syria, we look to the social science on why refugees move and how they settle in.

Clippings:

“Civil Rights for the Poor” by Neeraj Rajasekar. New work by Doug Massey and Robert Putnam featured in The Atlantic. 

From Our Partners:

Contexts:

“Online Friends Affect Relationship Status” by Joanna Pepin. Social networks shape the way you look at your spouse.
“Kids and Community Violence” by Megan Wilhelm. How do kids cope with trouble in the neighborhood?
“Marrying Social Activism and Spiritual Seeking” by Eve Fox. Interview with Elizabeth Lesser on the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. 

Council on Contemporary Families:

What Happens When Couples Marry after the First Baby? by Kelly Musick and Katherine Michelmore. Unlike earlier research, not divorce!

And a Few From the Community Pages:

• Families as They Really Are fills us in on the state of affordable child care.
• Education and Society looks at new research by Jonathan Pryor on the experiences of transgender college students.
• Cyborgology weighs in on recent debates over online advertising, saying “Full Communism is the Ultimate Ad Blocker“

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Hey everyone! Check out what’s new (and not as new but still timely) on TSP this week. Our grad board is hard at work putting together some great new pieces, so be sure to keep checking back!

Discoveries and There’s Research on That!:

Still reeling from the Republican debate Wednesday night? These oldies but goodies from our grad board are sure to pique your interest.

“Caught in the Culture Wars Crossfire” by Jack Delehanty. Delia Baldassarri and Amir Goldberg find that many American voters are choosing an “alternative” to the standard Democrat-Republican divide.

Jacqui Frost highlights research on the politics of reproductive rights, a hot topic in the debates, in “Religion, Reproduction, and the Supreme Court.”

Also, check out our Roundtable, “Is the (Tea) Party Over?,” by Jack Delehanty and Erik Kojola. They talk to Meghan Burke, Robert Horwitz, Ruth Braunstein, and Andrew Perrin about the continued influence of the Tea Party.

Clippings:

“Good Morning God, Good Night Moon,” by Caty Taborda. Bradley R.E. Wright and colleagues use an app to track the ways in which spiritual awareness fluctuates throughout the day.

“Buying a Viral Speech,” by Caty Taborda. Panicking about the speech you are supposed to give at your friend’s wedding? Now you can hire someone else to do it. Lisa Wade from Soc Images comments on the growing business of “toast whispering.”

From Our Partners:

Scholars Strategy Network: 

“What Happens When Women Planning Abortions View Ultrasounds?” by Katrina Kimport.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Health Care is a Family Stressor – So There’s Good News,” by Philip Cohen.

And a Few From the Community Pages:

• Education and Society interviews Kelly Nielsen and Nicole Deterding on the value of community college.
• Feminist Reflections charts Twitter activity surrounding the refugee crisis
• Girl w/Pen! talks Kim Davis and anti-gay politics.
• Cyborgology stands with Ahmed Mohamed and reflects on the changing needs of Intro to Soc students.
• Sociological Images critiques sexism in Disney movies and media coverage of violence against police.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Hello, folks! Evan here, co-graduate editor for TSP along with Jacqui Frost. We’ll be bringing you the weekly roundup this semester. As classes start up and a new graduate editorial board rolls in here at the site, here’s a look at what we’ve been up to since ASA 2015.

Discoveries:

“E-I-T-C, Find Out What It Means to Me” by Lisa Gulya. Jennifer Sykes, Katrin Križ, Kathryn Edin, and Sarah Halpern-Meekin show how a small tax break is a big step toward giving low income families a sense of control.

There’s Research on That!:

The recent hubbub over marriage licenses for same-sex couples and a certain county clerk had us had us cheering “#TROT!” Check out “Marriage, Inequality, and Bureaucracy: The Devil’s in the DMV?”

Office Hours Interview:

Allison Pugh on The Tumbleweed Society with Lisa Gulya. Allison Pugh looks at how winds of change from the workforce blow into our personal lives.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“The Role of Racial Tensions in State Decisions To Cut Back Welfare” by Hana Brown.

“The Evidence Shows that ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Undermine Law Enforcement and Public Safety” by Robert J. Spitzer.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Gender Revolution and the Restabilization of Family Life,” by Frances Goldscheider.

Contexts:

Q&A with ASA President Paula England on her 2015 Presidential Address: “Sometimes the Social Becomes Personal: Gender, Class, and Sexualities.”

“Foreclosing on Diversity” by Angie O’Brien. New research in American Sociological Review shows how banks bolstered racial separation by foreclosing in communities of color.

“Saving Our Kids.” Sean McElwee sets the record straight by reviewing a reviewer of Robert Putnam’s Our Kids. 

Highlights from the Community Pages:

• Families as They Really Are talks overprotective parenting as the school year starts up.
• Sociological Images rounds up August posts and looks at research on what creeps us out.
• Cyborgology has thoughts on public scholarship from ASA15 and the politics of hacking.
• Thick Culture looks at trends in citizen journalism with grad board member Ryan Larson.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Hellllllooooo, Chicago! Here’s what TSP’s been up to this week—some excellent reads as sociology converges on the Windy City. Be sure to say hi to our grad board members and editors as we make the rounds, and watch our Twitter for some live-tweeted-panels courtesy @EvanStewart23 (with Jacqui Frost, our graduate editor).

There’s Research on That!

“We All Live with the Effects of School Segregation,” Evan Stewart with research by Gary Orfield, Susan E. Eaton, Grace Kao, Daniel T. Lichter, Domenico Parisi, and more.

Discoveries:

“Freshman 15 or Family-First 50? College and Family Sequencing Affect Obesity.” Sarah Catherine Billups sums up Journal of Health and Social Behavior research from Miech, Shanahan, Boardman, and Bauldry.

Clippings:

“‘Moving to Opportunity’ After Katrina.” Billups shares some sociological highlights from a New Yorker article on mobility and displacement in New Orleans. Featuring David Kirk, Patrick Sharkey, Stefanie DeLuca, and Corina Graif.

Contexts Magazine:

“Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics,” Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook. How transgender rights legislation got framed as “bathroom bills,” with seemingly everyone trying to mark their territory.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“The Downside of Separating ‘Good’ Undocumented Immigrants from ‘Bad’ Criminals,” by Abigail Andrews. “As long as protection seems conditional on quiet and deferential personal conduct, any approach that divides undocumented migrants into good versus bad categories reinforces secondary status for all.”

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Getting Current on Cohabitation,” by Virginia Rutter. “Fifteen years ago, the going wisdom on cohabitation was that marriages preceded by living together were more likely to fall apart—that news is out of date.”

A Few From the Community Pages:

• On Sociological Images, a new Yale project parses Americans’ opinions on climate change and research shows college students believe in the benefits of diversity while also touting “color-blindness”.
• Families As They Really Are shares 5 ways professors can help single mother students.
• Feminist Reflections on graphic art and social change.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery of the Roundup

Our Latest Book

Check out Getting Culture (just $15!)

Sociological snacks, academic dishonesty, perceptions of illegal immigration, incarcerated parents, the crime drop, exacerbating the education gap with Adderral, and when we care about economic inequality, all this week on The Society Pages. Also, be sure to check out our topics pages for Gender, Culture, Inequality, Race, Crime, Politics, and Teaching to get our graduate board’s latest picks from around the web!

Office Hours podcast:

“Michaela DeSoucey on Food and Cultural Authenticity,” with Matt Gunther. DeSoucey joins to discuss her work on food, culture, consumption, and politics.

Give Methods a Chance podcast:

“Shamus Khan on Historical Data,” with Kyle Green. The author of The Practice of Research, Shamus Khan says, “I love very micro-level analyses where you can see what one person is doing or what is happening on the ground…

“Chris Uggen on Academic Dishonesty and Public Sociology,” with Sarah Esther Lageson. Our co-editor Chris Uggen takes the mic to discuss recent sociology headlines around data and ethics.

Discoveries: (formerly The Reading List)

sar”Proving Perception Trumps Reality in Immigration Debates,” by Ryan Larson. New research in Social Problems teases out perceived threat as a driver of isolationist opinions.

Clippings: (formerly Citings & Sightings)

“Black Communities Hit Hard When Government Shrinks,” by Sarah Catherine Billups. When government jobs go away, so do economic mobility opportunities for black communities, says Jennifer Laird.

“Economic Recovery Highlights Economic Inequality,” by Caty Taborda. Sociologist Leslie McCall offers the NYTimes an explanation for why worries over inequality are higher after the Great Recession. more...

As summer starts, sociology blossoms! There’s a new issue of Contexts magazine (all content is available for free from SAGE publications for 30 days!), new podcast episodes, and more for your summer reading list.

There’s Research on That!

“Pew Compiles Data on Pew Composition,” by Jack Delehanty. Are Americans becoming less religious or less organized when it comes to religion and spirituality? Delehanty looks to research from Richard Madsen, Michael Hout and Claude Fischer, Joseph O’Brian Baker and Buster Smith, and Chaeyoon Lim, Carol Ann MacGregor, and Robert D. Putnam.

The Editors’ Desk

“Grandmothers on the World Stage,” by Doug Hartmann. The Atlantic wonders if women like Hillary Clinton find age an advantage in politics, playing what they call “the granny card.”

Office Hours Podcast

“Susan Terrio on Children in U.S. Immigration Custody,” with Lisa Gulya. Discussing Terrio’s new book, Whose Child Am I? more...

Since last we met…

The Editors’ Desk:

“Tie Day: R.I.P. Professor Gusfield,” by Doug Hartmann. Doug remembers Joseph R. Gusfield, author of Symbolic Crusade and The Culture of Public Problems.

“Research on a Potato Chip Budget,” by Chris Uggen and Doug Hartmann. TSP’s co-editors on the devastating effects of HR1806, the proposed reauthorization bill funding the National Science Foundation, which would strip 45% of the funding for social, behavioral, and economic sciences.

Office Hours Podcast:

“Joyce Bell on Social Work and the Black Power Movement,” with Matt Gunther. Bell’s work demonstrates the resources and tensions that radical social movements bring to civil society.

There’s Research on That!:

“Election 2016: Let the Sexism Begin!” by Caty Taborda and Sarah Catherine Billups, with research from Caroline Heldman, Lisa Wade, Susan J. Carroll, Stephanie Olson, Kathleen Dlan, Jennifer L. Lawless, Kathryn Pearson, Sheri Kunovich, and Pamela Paxton.

“When Women Lead,” by Caty Taborda and Sarah Catherine Billups, with research from Erin I. Demaiter, Tracy L. Adams, and Alexandra Kalev.

“Advanced Placement Testing Season,” by Amy August, with research from Grace Kao, Jennifer S. Thompson, Daniel G. Solorzano, Armida Ornelas, Joshu Klugman, Thurston Domina, Joshua Saldana, Saul Geiser, Veronica Santelices, and Wayne Au.

“May Day Part I: The U.S. and Inequality,” by Erik Kojola, with research from ChangHwan Kim, Arthur Sakamoto, Bruce Western, Jake Rosenfeld, Winfried Koeniger, Marco Leonardi, and Luca Nunzjata. more...