bender, the new metaphysicals

The Immanent Frame asked me to participate in a discussion/forum on Courtney Bender’s great new book, The New Metaphysicals. The book, like the discussion, is really interesting and a fun read on its own. Also interesting, from a disciplinary-boundary sort of perspective, is the way in which this portion of the study of religion transcends […]

guilt and defense

I am delighted to announce the release of the first of two volumes of Frankfurt School work on public opinion and postwar Germany, translated, edited, and introduced by Jeffrey K. Olick and myself!

ask a scatterbrain: textbook payola

Posted for an unnamed friend: A college textbook representative, upon learning I was dropping a book I formerly used in a large class, wrote: Is there ANYTHING that I can do to help make it possible for you to use at least one of our titles?  … If it could make a difference for you, […]

ask a scatterbrain: advanced social theory

OK, it’s time to order books for the fall (zoinks!). I’m really excited about my graduate seminar in the fall, Advanced Social Theory, the first time we’ve been able to offer an advanced (meaning beyond one single semester!) social theory graduate course in the 9 years I’ve been here. I offered three general ideas for […]

summer reading for first-year students

I’m on the committee to select the book UNC will recommend that incoming students read and then discuss during orientation. The selection has been controversial before, and sometimes not, and I enjoyed the committee last time. However, I’m concerned that too often we pick pretty straightforward narrative journalism about some case that doesn’t really challenge […]

one scoop of my book, with tina topping, please!

The ASA conference will be an extravaganza of awesome, what with the blog party, the blog baseball game, and the fabulous sociology people everywhere. But wait! There is even more still. For those particularly hard-core conference-goers, who will stretch their visit to San Francisco well beyond the bounds of the conference dates, please consider attending […]

ask a scatterbrain: book series vs. general sociology

A reader asks: Given the choice, is it better to have a book published by a publisher who would place the book in a series (edited by scholars from a related discipline, not sociology), or one who would place it in the general sociology list?    Assuming the presses are quite comparable in terms of reputation […]

recent theory for sociology grad students

The time has come to plan my syllabus for fall, 2009, graduate social theory. Last semester I screwed it up (yes, for those of you in the class, I admit it!) — I assigned a newish book I hadn’t read, by a reputable author, which turned out to be awful. The class was sporting about […]

light reading

Not for sale in Canada’s largest online bookstore: Fabio Rojas, From Black Power to Black Studies Kieran Healy, Last Best Gifts Jay Livingston, Crime and Criminology Available for sale, with free shipping! Jeremy Freese, Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata Jeff Manza and Chris Uggen, Locked Out (but only in hardcover) Laura Beth […]

the hollow state: economism and the evacuation of the public

A common concern raised lately about the incoming Obama administration is that the past eight years have vastly reduced the capacity of the US federal state to do anything. This is principally a function of the incredibly reckless economic behavior of the Bush administration, but it’s also because the rhetoric of “Homeland Security” and “War […]

book launch party: you’re invited!

Any chance there are locals lurking? Sociologists looking for a reason to road trip? It is a lovely time of year to visit–the leaves are changing, the sky is blue, and my book is having a party. I hope to see you there!

best book in the universe! now in book form!

Well, maybe not the best book from an objective point of view, but from where I am standing, the arrival of my very own copy of this book is pretty amazing. I just got my advance copy of How the Religious Right Shaped Lesbian and Gay Activism. It is an analysis of the complex dynamics […]

go say hello

If I were one of you folks near Chicago, I’d be heading out tonight to hear Jessica Hagy promote her book at Quimby’s bookstore. Hagy’s blog, indexed, is one of my favorites, especially this one about my Husband.

the strange case of dr. booty and mr. t-bone

Gang Leader for a Day and Freakonomics have an obvious genealogical relationship. Levitt, self-described “rogue economist” co-author of Freakonomics, and Venkatesh, self-described “rogue sociologist” author of GLFAD, have collaborated on much-discussed papers using very unique data on the finances of a gang. The story of how the data came into Venkatesh’s possession is told both […]

three lessons to young researchers from gang leader for a day

(Book available here.) 1. If you are going to test a survey in an obviously dangerous public housing project, do not have your first question be arguably the worst survey question I have ever seen. (here) 2. If you hear a person planning a drive-by shooting of another person, you are under a legal–as well […]