In response to the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, cities and universities all across the United States have declared themselves “sanctuaries” from the threat of deportation. One aspect of this has been a revival of the sanctuary church movement. Over 800 churches nationwide have declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants who fear deportation since Trump […]

With the election of Donald Trump, much has been made about the construction of barriers to entry along the US border with Mexico. But while Trump has placed particular emphasis on the image of a wall designed to limit illegal movement across this border, thousands of workers travel lawfully from cities like Tijuana into the US — and back again — every day. In today’s episode, I talk with Rice University’s Sergio Chávez [1] about his new book Border Lives: Fronterizos, Transnational Migrants, and Commuters in Tijuana, [2] an ethnographic product of many years spent traveling (and waiting to travel) across the border with commuting workers. Dr. Chávez describes the incredible strain that border controls and bureaucracies place on low wage workers, but he also provides a remarkable account of the way that many workers leverage these difficulties into relationships and livelihood strategies. We also explore the implications of his findings for a relatively new approach to the scholarship on immigration, which social scientists call transnationalism. Download Office Hours #130 [3] [1] https://sociology.rice.edu/chavez/ [2] https://global.oup.com/academic/product/border-lives-9780199380589?cc=us&lang=en& [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH130_Chavez.mp3

Because they suffer from an invisible affliction, people with migraines are sometimes suspected of "making up" their disease in order to avoid performing unwanted duties. Even within psychology, women were once suspected of self-inducing their own migraines as a result of their inability to cope with the chaos of daily life. These days, neurobiological research has helped to establish migraine as a legitimate disease, with causes rooted within the organic structure of certain brains. However, as Rutgers professor Joanna Kempner [1]explains, even this paradigm shift tends to imply that the feminine "migraine brain" differs from the masculine "normal brain" in problematic ways. In Not Tonight: Migraine and the Politics of Gender and Health [2], she explores how cultural assumptions about gender and pain continue to inform how migraines are diagnosed, treated, and stigmatized. Download Office Hours #115 [3] [1] http://joannakempner.com/ [2] http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo18785835.html [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH115_Kempner.mp3

In this episode, Colorado State professor emeritus Peter M. Hall [1] drops in to talk about his forthcoming memoir, "Growing up Red, White, and Jewish: the Personal and the Political". We discuss the potential of memoir as a sociological method, and we consider how telling one's life story helps to reshape identity in the context of place and history. An early draft of Peter's memoir is available on ResearchGate [2]. Download Office Hours #114 [3] [1] http://central.colostate.edu/people/pmhall/ [2] http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Hall19 [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH114_Hall.mp3

Diversity is one of those concepts that is all but taken for granted as a good and desirable quality in American social life. However, as professor Ellen Berrey [1] explains, the actual institutions and practices designed to promote diversity can sometimes obscure real inequalities and limit the ways we think about social justice. Her new book, The Enigma of Diveristy: The Language of Race and the Limits of Racial Justice [2], chronicles three cases - one at a university, one in a neighborhood, and one at a large corporation - that demonstrate some of the problems that the idealization of diversity raises for minorities in America today. Download Office Hours #112 [3] [1] http://www.ellenberrey.com/ [2] http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo19910067.html [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH112_Berrey.mp3