- Department of Sociology
Northwestern University
1810 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, IL 60208 - 1-847-491-3495
Gary Fine
Northwestern University, Sociology, Faculty Member
- Aesthetics, Sociology of Art, Social Theory, Symbolic Interaction, Folklore, Folklore, Anthropology, Aesthetics, Theories of Play, Games, and Humor, Popular Culture, History of Media and Technology, Narrative Theory, Informal Networks, and 8 moreRumor, Gossip, Sociology, Social Psychology, Microsociology, Reputation, Collective Memory, and Collective Behavioredit
Why are some political leaders hated? Examining the public responses to the major party candidates in the 2016 Presidential election in the United States, we analyze the animus directed towards Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. We argue... more
Why are some political leaders hated? Examining the public responses to the major party candidates in the 2016 Presidential election in the United States, we analyze the animus directed towards Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. We argue that candidates with celebrity reputations and who have been previously well-known are particularly likely to be targets of intense discursive abuse. Hatred becomes part of the identity of that part of the population that considers them as threats to democratic order. Partisans draw upon Trump’s persona from the 1980s as a vulgar celebrity whose real estate business was corrupt as well as his well-publicized questioning of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Despite the fact – or perhaps because – Trump was once a liberal democrat, the rejection is visceral. Hatred for Hillary is transferred from the long-standing distaste for her husband, coupled with sexist sentiments directed at middle-aged women. Significantly, the dislike for both candidates during the election was sexualized, as was true for both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. We speculate that President Joe Biden, lacking a contentious backstory, will be spared some of the hatred that other politicians receive.
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The distinctive contribution of sociological social psychology can be referred to as sociological miniaturism, a way of interpreting social processes and institutions that is microsociological more than it is psychological. We argue that... more
The distinctive contribution of sociological social psychology can be referred to as sociological miniaturism, a way of interpreting social processes and institutions that is microsociological more than it is psychological. We argue that social psychology of this variety permits the examination of large-scale social issues by means of investigation of small-scale social situations. The power of this approach to social life is that it permits recognition of the dense texture of everyday life, permits sociologists to understand more fully a substantive domain, and permits interpretive control. In the chapter we provide examples of this approach from two quite distinct theoretical orientations: symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory. We discuss the ways in which the study of two substantive topics, social power and collective identity, using these perspectives can be informed by closer collaboration between theorists within sociological social psychology. In the end it is o...
Research Interests: Marketing, Sociology, Social Psychology, Epistemology, Symbolic Interaction, and 15 moreGrounded Theory, Sociological Theory, Interpretation, Institution, Collective Identity, Symbolic Interactionism, Microsociology, Power, Process, Institutions, Concept, Social Order, Social relations, Social System, and Social Exchange
In this article we extend the papers by Steven Van den Berghe, Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson and Virginie Amilien to highlight the most salient changes and evolution of the restaurant industry, emphasizing the first decade of the... more
In this article we extend the papers by Steven Van den Berghe, Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson and Virginie Amilien to highlight the most salient changes and evolution of the restaurant industry, emphasizing the first decade of the twenty-first century. Reflecting some of the themes raised by the preceding articles we ask: what are the identities of the contemporary restaurant and how are they expressed? Focusing on the American context we trace four major developments: the new charismatic celebrity chef, food enthusiasts and the expansion of a unique food culture, “moral” eating and related food politics and the changing structures of kitchen life.
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Interactionists have long focused on what goes on within organizations—thus their scholarly importance as researchers of work. However, they have avoided conceptualizing organizations as such until quite recently. Their primary concerns... more
Interactionists have long focused on what goes on within organizations—thus their scholarly importance as researchers of work. However, they have avoided conceptualizing organizations as such until quite recently. Their primary concerns are the relationships among individuals and how people create meanings and social relations. Structures and institutions, while never denied, receive secondary attention. Interactionists have made their most significant advances studying interpersonal realms, not in their investigations of ‘institutions’ or ‘society’. This article argues that the value of the interactionist approach for organizational research exists in its emphasis on how interaction and meaning provide a foundation for thinking about the constitutive role of people in organizations. The ‘peopled’ perspective of symbolic interaction stands in stark contrast to the ‘un-peopled’ view that has often characterized organizational sociology.
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Following the perspective of "sociological miniaturism," proposed by Stolte, Fine, and Cook (2001), we examine the significance of dust in social life in order to examine the reverberations of the micro-features of everyday life... more
Following the perspective of "sociological miniaturism," proposed by Stolte, Fine, and Cook (2001), we examine the significance of dust in social life in order to examine the reverberations of the micro-features of everyday life on social structure. Through the examination of the routine, the unexamined, and the commonplace, we hope to gain some insight on how the taken-for-granted aspects of lived experience fit into the larger social order. Dust, by virtue of its "smallness," provides a window through which we can explore social structural issues using microsociological analysis. Specifically we examine how dust and techniques for its control are linked to issues of gender, work, political economy, and nation.
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Purpose This study aims to explore how graduate students in the social sciences develop reading and note-taking routines. Design/methodology/approach Using a professional socialization framework drawing on grounded theory, this study... more
Purpose This study aims to explore how graduate students in the social sciences develop reading and note-taking routines. Design/methodology/approach Using a professional socialization framework drawing on grounded theory, this study draws on a snowball sample of 36 graduate students in the social sciences at US universities. Qualitative interviews were conducted to learn about graduate students’ reading and note-taking techniques. Findings This study uncovered how doctoral students experienced the shift from undergraduate to graduate training. Graduate school requires students to adopt new modes of reading and note-taking. However, students lacked explicit mentorship in these skills. Once they realized that the goal was to enter an academic conversation to produce knowledge, they developed new reading and note-taking routines by soliciting and implementing suggestions from advanced doctoral students and faculty mentors. Research limitations/implications The specific requirements of...
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One of the skills of graduate education that is most central to the evaluation of students is their ability to read and report on complex disciplinary texts. The display of comprehension is central to the judgment of competence, creating... more
One of the skills of graduate education that is most central to the evaluation of students is their ability to read and report on complex disciplinary texts. The display of comprehension is central to the judgment of competence, creating a status hierarchy. Demonstrating reading prowess is taken as a transparent indication of intelligence. Based on thirty-six ethnographic interviews with graduate students in sociology, history, and economics, we examine how informants think about the establishment of their scholarly reputations through self-presentational skills in discussing reading in seminars, articles, and eventually in the dissertation itself. The ability to read disciplinary texts and to situate those texts within disciplinary contexts is crucial for a validated selfhood.
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Faculty and students recognize that to succeed in graduate school, the ability to read efficiently and with comprehension is crucial. Students must be able to process information newly presented to them, even when that information seems... more
Faculty and students recognize that to succeed in graduate school, the ability to read efficiently and with comprehension is crucial. Students must be able to process information newly presented to them, even when that information seems overwhelming. Comprehending, discussing, and utilizing relevant texts are central to the production of scholars. But what constitutes appropriate techniques of reading, when does one employ various strategies, and for what purposes? In a world in which more is assigned than can reasonably be processed, what constitutes a legitimate practice? In this conversation essay, we discuss the role of skimming, building upon an interview study of 36 social science graduate students in history, economics, and sociology. We ask what students believe about the necessity and appropriateness of skimming, how they honed their skills, and what constitutes normative standards. We treat skimming as a form of “legitimate deviance,” necessary for occupational survival but a strategy that is potentially a challenge to an academic self-image. Students learn techniques that allow them to read rapidly and recall information for later use, but the appropriate use of these techniques is rarely discussed openly in graduate training.
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The nature and meaning of gossip are discussed, drawing upon interdisciplinary observations. Gossiping is not restricted to one modality of expression. Nor is gossip merely "idle talk!' (the common definition), but instead... more
The nature and meaning of gossip are discussed, drawing upon interdisciplinary observations. Gossiping is not restricted to one modality of expression. Nor is gossip merely "idle talk!' (the common definition), but instead purposeful communication that appears to serve three primary functions-information, influence, and entertainment. Implications for further inquiry and theoretical integration are noted.
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Although folklorists have seldom concentrated on politics, folklore thrives among decision-making elites and the politically aware citizenry. One genre is the “policy legend,” a traditional text that describes institutions or social... more
Although folklorists have seldom concentrated on politics, folklore thrives among decision-making elites and the politically aware citizenry. One genre is the “policy legend,” a traditional text that describes institutions or social conditions, often in a historical frame, to call for governmental or collective action. Even though policy legends are typically transmitted in written form, they change continually, adapting to their political contexts and the concerns of their communicators and audiences. They frequently take the form of lists, which we call folklists, and survive through autopoiesis, the propensity of a system to repair and maintain its internal elements and boundaries. This article analyzes three policy legends: the list of historical statistics on the prevalence of war, then-and-now lists of the worst school discipline problems, and an alleged, wordy federal regulation on the price of cabbages.
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During the late 1920s and ’30s, performative populism played a major role in the politics of the American Deep South. In the gubernatorial campaigns of three of the most prominent populist politicians of the era—Huey Long, Theodore Bilbo,... more
During the late 1920s and ’30s, performative populism played a major role in the politics of the American Deep South. In the gubernatorial campaigns of three of the most prominent populist politicians of the era—Huey Long, Theodore Bilbo, and Eugene Talmadge—performance skills and entertainment were key strategies for gaining voter support and crafting personas within a popular imaginary.
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Sociology requires a robust theory of how local circumstances create social order. When we analyze social structures not recognizing that they depend on groups with collective pasts and futures that are spatially situated and that are... more
Sociology requires a robust theory of how local circumstances create social order. When we analyze social structures not recognizing that they depend on groups with collective pasts and futures that are spatially situated and that are based on personal relations, we avoid a core sociological dimension: the importance of local context in constituting social worlds. Too often this has been the sociological stance, both in micro-sociological studies that examine interaction as untethered from local traditions and in research that treats culture as autonomous from action and choice. Building on theories of action, group dynamics, and micro-cultures, I argue that a sociology of the local solves critical theoretical problems. The local is a stage on which social order gets produced and a lens for understanding how particular forms of action are selected. Treating ethnographic studies as readings of ongoing cultures, I examine how the continuing and referential features of group life (spat...
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It has been conventional to conceptualize civic life through one of two core images: the citizen as lone individualist or the citizen as joiner. Drawing on analyses of the historical development of the public sphere, we propose an... more
It has been conventional to conceptualize civic life through one of two core images: the citizen as lone individualist or the citizen as joiner. Drawing on analyses of the historical development of the public sphere, we propose an alternative analytical framework for civic engagement based on small-group interaction. By embracing this micro-level approach, we contribute to the debate on civil society in three ways. By emphasizing local interaction contexts—the microfoundations of civil society—we treat small groups as a cause, context, and consequence of civic engagement. First, through framing and motivating, groups encourage individuals to participate in public discourse and civic projects. Second, they provide the place and support for that involvement. Third, civic engagement feeds back into the creation of additional groups. A small-groups perspective suggests how civil society can thrive even if formal and institutional associations decline. Instead of indicating a decline in ...
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Although small group research has been marginalized within sociology during the past decades, the authors argue that a focus on interaction arenas can contribute to a more complete analysis of social life. Specifically, the authors... more
Although small group research has been marginalized within sociology during the past decades, the authors argue that a focus on interaction arenas can contribute to a more complete analysis of social life. Specifically, the authors examine three central domains of sociological analysis—culture, organizations, and the economy—to demonstrate how a focus on the mesolevel of analysis allows for a merging of macrosociology and microsociology. The authors draw on the perspective of sociological miniaturism to provide a model for cross-level research.
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As Everett Hughes noted, there is an “underside” to all work. Each job includes ways of doing things that would be inappropriate for those outside the guild to know. Illusions are essential for maintaining occupational reputation, but in... more
As Everett Hughes noted, there is an “underside” to all work. Each job includes ways of doing things that would be inappropriate for those outside the guild to know. Illusions are essential for maintaining occupational reputation, but in the process they create a set of moral dilemmas. So it is with ethnographic work. This article describes the underside of ethnographic work: compromises that one frequently makes with idealized ethical standards. It argues that images of ethnographers—personal and public—are based on partial truths or self-deceptions. The focus is on three clusters of dilemmas: the classical virtues (the kindly ethnographer, the friendly ethnographer, and the honest ethnographer), technical skills (the precise ethnographer, the observant ethnographer, and the unobtrusive ethnographer), and the ethnographic self (the candid ethnographer, the chaste ethnographer, the fair ethnographer, and the literary ethnographer). Changes in ethnographic styles and traditions alter...
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This article argues for a distinctive form of participant observation which I label peopled ethnography. I contrast this to two alternative ethnographic approaches, the personal ethnography and the postulated ethnography. In a peopled... more
This article argues for a distinctive form of participant observation which I label peopled ethnography. I contrast this to two alternative ethnographic approaches, the personal ethnography and the postulated ethnography. In a peopled ethnography the text is neither descriptive narrative nor conceptual theory; rather, the understanding of the setting and its theoretical implications are grounded in a set of detailed vignettes, based on field notes, interview extracts, and the texts that group members produce. The detailed account, coupled with the ability of the reader to generalize from the setting, is at the heart of this methodological perspective. This form of ethnography is most effectively based on the observation of an interacting group, a setting in which one can explore the organized routines of behavior. I demonstrate the use of peopled ethnography through my own ethnographic investigations, contrasting this approach with classic works from other approaches.
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Building on theory and research on rumor dynamics, I examine how the search for and acquisition of information during a time of medical crisis relies on the politics of plausibility and the politics of credibility. In this, I examine how... more
Building on theory and research on rumor dynamics, I examine how the search for and acquisition of information during a time of medical crisis relies on the politics of plausibility and the politics of credibility. In this, I examine how the content and the source of information affects the spread of uncertain knowledge during periods of disaster, recognizing the social dynamics of ignorance, a key issue for domains of knowledge of which the public has little ability to judge. The assertion of multiple truth claims about the current pandemic leads to challenges to previously taken-for-granted realities, but also potentially provides solutions. The dynamic may be different in conditions that require an immediate response and those that evolve over a longer period (fast and slow rumors). Using rumors about the COVID-19 pandemic, I address how epistemic disruption undercuts established norms (disruption-of) but also creates the possibility of desirable change through new negotiations, ...
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The connection between the research university and the creative artist has markedly increased during the past half century. As a result, artists are embedded on campuses with the mandate to contribute to the university’s mission and to... more
The connection between the research university and the creative artist has markedly increased during the past half century. As a result, artists are embedded on campuses with the mandate to contribute to the university’s mission and to shape the civic order. Today artists are researchers, theorists, and activists. How did this occur? Based on a two-year ethnography of three master of fine arts programs in the American Midwest, I explain the creation of the discipline of visual arts as academic practitioners have become professionalized, have become able to control their evaluations, and have developed a set of motivating theoretical ideas that lead to participation in civic culture as their practices are linked to social justice and the good society. Artistic practice is not now value free, if it ever was. With the university as a political and a progressive space, students are encouraged to articulate their practices as linked to their responsibilities as aesthetic citizens.
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Gary Alan FINE gehort weltweit zu den prominentesten Personlichkeiten der zeitgenossischen soziologischen Ethnografie. In diesem Gesprach spricht er uber Einflusse in seiner akademischen Laufbahn und pragende intellektuelle... more
Gary Alan FINE gehort weltweit zu den prominentesten Personlichkeiten der zeitgenossischen soziologischen Ethnografie. In diesem Gesprach spricht er uber Einflusse in seiner akademischen Laufbahn und pragende intellektuelle Entscheidungen. Er gilt als "serieller Ethnograf", der in zahlreichen Feldkontexten gearbeitet hat und dabei einerseits Kleingruppen und eine von Menschen bevolkerte Ethnografie favorisiert, sich andererseits mit Geruchten, Klatsch und moralischen Geschichten beschaftigt, die in kleinen und groseren Publiken erzahlt werden. FINE beschreibt sein theoretisches Kerninteresse als die Untersuchung des Wechselspiels von Struktur, Interaktion und Kultur. In seinem Werk analysiert er die vielfaltigen ortsgebundenen Arten und Weisen, in denen Gesellschaft von Menschen in formellen und informellen sozialen Settings verwirklicht wird, angefangen bei Baseballteams uber Restaurantkuchen oder die Wetterberichterstattung bis hin zum Schachspielen –um nur einige wenige...
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We examine the choices, dilemmas, and opportunities confronting ethnography at a moment in which face-to-face interaction is deemed dangerous and prohibited by many university human subjects committees As scholars who have examined... more
We examine the choices, dilemmas, and opportunities confronting ethnography at a moment in which face-to-face interaction is deemed dangerous and prohibited by many university human subjects committees As scholars who have examined vulnerable seniors through intense engagement, we recognize that our presence can spread disease, just as we might become infected by those very informants Yet, ethnography serves a necessary role in charting the conditions of the vulnerable and identifying points of intervention The Covid-19 virus and its effects on research might truncate the granular observations that have made ethnography such a profoundly incisive method in the short term, but it may also permit reflection and methodological innovation that can contribute to both theory and policy In this vein, our unwanted hiatus provides an opportunity to work on longstanding concerns such as ethnographic transparency while simultaneously advancing innovative styles of research Whether we will seiz...
Research Interests: Sociology, Medical Sociology, Anthropology, Cultural Sociology, Digital Humanities, and 15 moreSocial Sciences, Research Methodology, Ethnography, Research Ethics, Qualitative methodology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Political Science, Aging, Qualitative Research, Mixed Methods Research, Participant Observation, Science and Technology Studies, In Depth Interviews, COVID-19 PANDEMIC, and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
What accounts for name choices in a transnational context? What does the choice of ethnic or English names reveal about global identities and the desire to fit into a new culture? Drawing on the sociology of culture and migration, we... more
What accounts for name choices in a transnational context? What does the choice of ethnic or English names reveal about global identities and the desire to fit into a new culture? Drawing on the sociology of culture and migration, we examine the intersection of naming, assimilation, and self-presentation in light of international student mobility. Based on 25 semi-structured interviews with mainland Chinese students enrolled in an elite Midwestern university, we find that these students make name choices by engaging in both transnational processes and situated practices. First, Chinese international students negotiate between multiple names to deal with ethnic distinctions. While ethnic names can signal distance from other ethnic communities, they also distinguish individuals from others. For these students, names are multi-layered and temporal: their name choices evolve throughout school lives, shaped by power relations in American cultural contexts and channeled by images of their home country. Second, multiple names allow these students to practice situated performance, incorporating the reflective self, the distinctive self, and the imagined self. We address “cross-cultural naming” that accounts for identity in transnational social spaces.
Research Interests: Sociology, Gender Studies, Cultural Sociology, Transnationalism, Cultural Identity, and 11 moreChina, International Students, Sociology of Migration, Cross Cultural Psychology, Cultural Assimilation, Sociolgy of Education, Personal Names, Ethinic Identity, Elite, Naming Practices, and Qualitative Sociology
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Perhaps paradoxically, events can have effects despite having been" forgotten." Events have, in Erving Goffman's (1981: 46) phrase, a referential afterlife, the period in which events can be referred... more
Perhaps paradoxically, events can have effects despite having been" forgotten." Events have, in Erving Goffman's (1981: 46) phrase, a referential afterlife, the period in which events can be referred to with the expectation that audiences will understand their relevance and symbolic meaning. When an event has passed this period of shared recollection it still may leave traces, especially if responses to the event have been institutionalized. We examine the dynamics by which events serve as memory templates for subsequent events. We ...
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We extend Fine's (2003) model of `peopled ethnography' for studying small groups to the study of larger social units, including organizations and communities. While studies of small groups often recognize the presence of... more
We extend Fine's (2003) model of `peopled ethnography' for studying small groups to the study of larger social units, including organizations and communities. While studies of small groups often recognize the presence of macro-level social structures, they typically treat these as backdrops to the interaction scene which constrain and enable group life, not as units of analysis in their own right. Yet small groups are embedded in and help constitute larger units of analysis, such as organizations and communities. We argue that studies of these larger social structures can be extended beyond ethnographic observation of the interactions that help comprise them, making peopled ethnography applicable to units of analysis larger than the small group. We offer illustrative examples of organizational and community ethnographies.
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We investigate how material poverty functions as a cultural space, specifically addressing when it becomes a strategy, that is, when an individual with cultural and social capital adopts a life of low income in order to form other social... more
We investigate how material poverty functions as a cultural space, specifically addressing when it becomes a strategy, that is, when an individual with cultural and social capital adopts a life of low income in order to form other social identities. We examine two groups that use low income to further other goals but differ in their temporal lens: (1) “transitional bourgeoisie,” graduate students and artists who frame their economic deprivation as a temporary means to prospective identities, such as a professorship or success in art; (2) “embedded activists,” committed adults rooted in political and religious organizations who see low income as a permanent strategy to bolster their anti-consumerist desires. Relying on 37 in-depth interviews with informants we ask, how do people in strategic poverty construct satisfying lives? What cultural tools and skill-sets do informants draw upon to negotiate their economic circumstances and middle-class backgrounds?
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Every interacting social group develops, over time, a joking culture: a set of humorous references that are known to members of the group to which members can refer and that serve as the basis of further interaction. Joking, thus, has a... more
Every interacting social group develops, over time, a joking culture: a set of humorous references that are known to members of the group to which members can refer and that serve as the basis of further interaction. Joking, thus, has a historical, retrospective, and reflexive character. We argue that group joking is embedded, interactive, and referential, and these features give it power within the group context. Elements of the joking culture serve to
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Purpose– In recent years, scholars have begun suggesting that marketing can learn a lot from art and art history. This paper aims to build on that work by developing the proposition that successful artists are powerful... more
Purpose– In recent years, scholars have begun suggesting that marketing can learn a lot from art and art history. This paper aims to build on that work by developing the proposition that successful artists are powerful brands.Design/methodology/approach– Using archival data and biographies, this paper explores the branding acumen of Pablo Picasso.Findings– Picasso maneuvered with consummate skill to assure his position in the art world. By mid-career, he had established his brand so successfully that he had the upper hand over the dealers who represented him, and his work was so sought-after that he could count on selling whatever proportion of it he chose to allow to leave his studio. In order to achieve this level of success, Picasso had to read the culture in which he operated and manage the efforts of a complex system of different intermediaries and stakeholders that was not unlike an organization. Based on an analysis of Picasso's career, the authors assert that in their ma...
Research Interests: Entrepreneurship, Marketing, History, Sociology, Art History, and 6 moreArt, Culture, Sociology of Arts, Branding, Pablo Picasso, and Brands
Although examinations of social memory have largely focused on societies and large populations, much remembrance occurs within bounded publics. This memory, especially when it is held in common, ties individuals to their chosen groups,... more
Although examinations of social memory have largely focused on societies and large populations, much remembrance occurs within bounded publics. This memory, especially when it is held in common, ties individuals to their chosen groups, establishing an ongoing reality of affiliation. I term this form of memory work as sticky culture, recognizing the centrality of the linkage of selves and groups. To examine how sticky culture operates, I examine the social world of competitive chess with its deep history and rich literature. More specifically, I examine forms through which chess publics are cemented through remembrances of the past, focusing on the hero, the critical moment, and validated styles. Champions, memorable games, and recognized strategies establish a lasting public.
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Philip Rieff, the author of Freud: The Mind of the Moralist, The Triumph of the Therapeutic and Fellow Teachers, is a consequential and important American social theorist whose emphasis on moral structures and cultural limits has become -... more
Philip Rieff, the author of Freud: The Mind of the Moralist, The Triumph of the Therapeutic and Fellow Teachers, is a consequential and important American social theorist whose emphasis on moral structures and cultural limits has become - and to a great degree, always was - out of fashion. This article and the four that follow attempt to demonstrate the
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PAN: Philosophy Activism Nature, vol. 10 (2013), p. 77-86 urn:ISSN:1443-6124
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Drawing on sociological conceptions of interaction, small groups, and group cultures, we argue that organizational studies benefits from a meso-analysis of everyday life. Small group cultures are a means through which colleagues and... more
Drawing on sociological conceptions of interaction, small groups, and group cultures, we argue that organizational studies benefits from a meso-analysis of everyday life. Small group cultures are a means through which colleagues and co-workers share embedded and powerful self-referential meanings that shape ongoing organizational activity. Through this perspective we argue for a group-level approach to organizations that emphasizes the local production of knowledge and structure. Drawing upon ethnographic research on field offices of the US National Weather Service, we emphasize the importance of shared awareness and memory, performance, and differentiation, building on a vibrant group culture in which workers collaborate and challenge each other. In conclusion we examine connections and differences among the group culture approach, and related approaches that emphasize inhabited institutions, institutional logics, institutional work, and organizational culture.
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Universities are distinctive institutions, whose essential tasks include the preservation of memory and the dissemination of history. But how do universities remember their own pasts, particularly when those pasts deemed difficult or... more
Universities are distinctive institutions, whose essential tasks include the preservation of memory and the dissemination of history. But how do universities remember their own pasts, particularly when those pasts deemed difficult or problematic? To understand institutional strategies ...
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In recent decades, the number of print and electronic outlets for scholarly publication across the humanities and social sciences has grown exponentially. Business models have shifted from university presses who offer subject-based... more
In recent decades, the number of print and electronic outlets for scholarly publication across the humanities and social sciences has grown exponentially. Business models have shifted from university presses who offer subject-based clusters of journals to include commercial publishers and open-access digital platforms. With greater pressure than ever to publish early and often for those on and just out of reach of the tenure track, concerns with the timeline to publish and the number of outlets for publication become tantamount to the texts themselves. But what happens to the literature? When does readability no longer remain a commitment an author makes to its audience or editors make to their authors? This article argues for a persistent renewal of the journal editor’s commitment to providing authors with substantive peer review and suggestions for workable revisions. Publishers of scholarly content should also renew their commitment to professional copyediting in order to create lasting contributions to sociological literature that can be digested, interpreted, and built upon by researchers and students alike.
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Purpose – Classical ethnographic research begins with the recognition that the observer starts as a stranger to the group being studied, a recognition as evident in the analysis of formal organizations as of gangs or tribes. From this... more
Purpose – Classical ethnographic research begins with the recognition that the observer starts as a stranger to the group being studied, a recognition as evident in the analysis of formal organizations as of gangs or tribes. From this position of difference the researcher must learn the themes and dynamics of a setting of otherness. The researcher begins as an outsider, a stance that creates initial challenges, yet permits the transmittal of novel information to external audiences. This is particularly true while studying organizational worlds that explicitly focus on occupational socialization. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper relies on the close reading and analysis of three major ethnographies of occupational socialization. Findings – The reality that (many) ethnographers begin as strangers permits them to understand socialization processes while observing how group cultures change. The authors defines this as the “strang...
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Many sociologists have tried in vain to find the “true” meaning of the classic works in the discipline. An interactionist perspective suggests that this search is not a valid one for sociologists, especially symbolic interactionists.... more
Many sociologists have tried in vain to find the “true” meaning of the classic works in the discipline. An interactionist perspective suggests that this search is not a valid one for sociologists, especially symbolic interactionists. Although there can be no “true” meaning, some authors use conventions of writing that make their work more or less clear. Using Mead‘s Mind, Se/f and Society as an example, we discuss the dimensions of clarity. We then argue that the sociological classics should be read to (I) simulate new theories and research (pragmatic analysis), (2) determine how sociologists have used that classic to support or refute particular theories or perspectives (rhetorical analysis), and (3) provide information about the sociological concerns of the author and his/ her contemporaries (historical analysis).
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Social network is a concept interactionists might use to link individual behavior to the larger social system. A symbolic interactionist formulation of network would: 1) approximate the original, anthropological usage better than the... more
Social network is a concept interactionists might use to link individual behavior to the larger social system. A symbolic interactionist formulation of network would: 1) approximate the original, anthropological usage better than the current structural conception does, 2) offer symbolic interactionists a unit of social organization better suited to their perspective than the small group, and 3) allow symbolic interactionists to deal with “macro” sociological concerns. Network is conceived of as a set of relationships which people imbue with meaning and use for personal or collective purposes. By emphasizing subjective meaning and the investigation of multi-purpose and weak ties, the interactionist formulation provides theoretical insights into those aspects of society which “structural” approaches overlook. One of the major developments in sociology during the 1970s was the growth and popularity of the network construct to describe social structure.’ Many network analysts, particularly those in sociology, regard themselves as structuralists and rely heavily on mathematical models and statistical methodologies. However, despite its current usage, we argue that the network consrruct is compatible with the symbolic interactionist conceptualization of social structure. In fact, we claim that the symbolic interactionist approach fits anthropologists’ original conception of network better than the structuralists’ approach does. Following the formulations of British social anthropologists (Radcliffe-Brown, 1940; Barnes, 1954; Nadel, 1957), social structure (as network) is seen as a set of relationships between individuals. Symbolic interactionism, like the network formulation, suggests a relational approach to understanding social order. From the symbolic interactionist perspective, social order is constructed through meaningful, self-other interaction. “Society as symbolic interaction” (Blumer, 1969) is equivalent to the view (in network theory) that social structure is grounded in relationships-the self-other relationship is the basic
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Complex social systems require knowledge specialists who provide information that political actors rely on to solve policy challenges. Successful advice is unproblematic; more significant is assigning institutional blame in the aftermath... more
Complex social systems require knowledge specialists who provide information that political actors rely on to solve policy challenges. Successful advice is unproblematic; more significant is assigning institutional blame in the aftermath of advice considered wrong or harmful, undercutting state security. How do experts, operating within epistemic communities, preserve their reputation in the face of charges of incompetence or malice? Attacks on experts and their sponsors can be an effective form of contentious politics, a wedge to denounce other institutional players. To examine the politics of expertise we analyze the debate in the early 1950s over “Who Lost China?,” the congressional attempt to assign responsibility for the fall of the Nationalist regime to the Communists. Using a “strong case,” we examine political battles over the motives of Professor Owen Lattimore. For epistemic authority an expert must be defined as qualified (having appropriate credentials), influential (providing consequential information), and innocent (demonstrating epistemic neutrality). We focus on two forms of attack: smears (an oppositional presentation of a set of linked claims) and degradation ceremonies (the institutional awarding of stigma). We differentiate these by the critic's links to systems of power. Smears appear when reputational rivals lack power to make their claims stick, while degradation ceremonies operate through dominance within an institutional setting. Policy experts are awarded provisional credibility, but this access to an autonomous realm of knowledge can be countered by opponents with alternate sources of power. Ultimately expertise involves not only knowledge, but also the presentation of a validated self.
Research Interests:
We examine how the contemporary art market has changed as a result of the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus. Based on interviews with artists, collectors, a dealer, and an auction house executive, we argue that the decline of... more
We examine how the contemporary art market has changed as a result of the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus. Based on interviews with artists, collectors, a dealer, and an auction house executive, we argue that the decline of face-to-face interaction, previously essential to art market transactions, has placed strain on each corner of the community. In the absence of physical co-presence with the artworks and art world actors, participants struggle to evaluate and appreciate artworks, make new social ties, develop trust, and experience a shared sense of pleasure and collective effervescence. These challenges especially impact the primary gallery market , where participants emphasize a communal commitment to art above instrumental speculation, which is more accepted in the secondary auction market. We find a transition to distant online communication, but the likelihood of this continuing after the lockdowns end and the virus dissipates varies according to the subcultures of these market segments.