
A weekly link round-up of sociological work – work by sociologists, referencing sociologists, or just of interest to sociologists. This scatterplot feature is co-produced with Mike Bader.
This week, a few articles feature discussions of how malleable our stated opinions are (or aren’t.)
Inequality
- Leslie McCall and Jennifer Richeson report a survey experiment on how information about rising inequality makes Americans (a bit) less likely to believe economic success is earned through individual effort.
- The Boston Review looks at three books on inequality (Dream Hoarders, Toxic Inequality, and White Working Class) and notes that none emphasize a key reducer of inequality elsewhere: strong unions.
- The New Yorker reviews The Economy, a new, high profile, and free introductory economics textbook. Its first chapter? Inequality.
Race and Racism
- The NYT Magazine takes a deep dive into the resegregation of schools in Jefferson County through an Alabama town’s appropriately named attempt to “secede.”
- “Through the banning of subreddits which engaged in racism and fat-shaming, Reddit was able to reduce the prevalence of such behavior on the site.”
- “few groups need intersectionality more than aggrieved white men and the professional intellectual class seeking to understand how they elected Donald Trump President of the United States of America.” – Tressie MC being brilliant as always.
Higher Education
- Programs pushing women into STEM may backfire because the real problem is STEM fields pushing women out.
- Elite universities emphasize “independence” in ways that alienate students from poor families.
- “Michelle was sentenced in a courtroom to serve X years, but we decided — unilaterally — that it should be X years plus no Harvard,” – On Harvard’s rejection of Michelle Jones, and what it can tell us about prison, the limits of redemption, and the academy.
Tech
- BoingBoing covers Sarah Brayne’s work on predictive policing and big data.
- Unions are coming to Silicon Valley – or, more precisely, to the contractors that drive the shuttles and staff the cafeterias.
Climate Change
- Historian Naomi Oreskes recommends five books on the politics of climate change.
- Living through extreme weather doesn’t change your attitude towards climate change policies.