Showing papers in "American Journal of Sociology in 2018"
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of metrics in broader processes of convergence and homogenization is emphasized, yet numbers can take on different meanings depending on their contexts. And they can have different meanings in different contexts.
Abstract: Sociological studies often emphasize the role of metrics in broader processes of convergence and homogenization. Yet numbers can take on different meanings depending on their contexts. This article...
126 citations
TL;DR: The authors developed the genetic options theory to account for how genetic ancestry tests influence consumers' ethnic and racial identities, and found that white respondents aspired to new identities more readily and in substantively different ways than black respondents.
Abstract: The rapid growth of genetic ancestry testing has brought concerns that these tests will transform consumers’ racial and ethnic identities, producing “geneticized” identities determined by genetic knowledge. Drawing on 100 qualitative interviews with white, black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Native Americans, the authors develop the genetic options theory to account for how genetic ancestry tests influence consumers’ ethnic and racial identities. The theory maintains that consumers do not accept the tests’ results as given but choose selectively from the estimates according to two mechanisms: their identity aspirations and social appraisals. Yet consumers’ prior racialization also influences their identity aspirations; white respondents aspired to new identities more readily and in substantively different ways. The authors’ findings suggest that genetic ancestry testing can reinforce race privilege among those who already experience it.
104 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the main classes of "signals" (patterns of data) that arise in high-frequency trading (HFT) and analyze the relationships among them.
Abstract: Drawing on interviews with 194 market participants (including 54 practitioners of high-frequency trading or HFT), this article first identifies the main classes of “signals” (patterns of data) that...
79 citations
TL;DR: With evidence comprising three years of ethnographic research in child support courts and 125 in-depth interviews with formerly incarcerated fathers, the author shows how criminal justice and child welfare as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: With evidence comprising three years of ethnographic research in child support courts and 125 in-depth interviews with formerly incarcerated fathers, the author shows how criminal justice and child...
67 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, environmental justice and social movements scholarship demonstrates how not-in-my-backyard activism by more privileged communities leaves the disadvantaged with "locally unwanted land uses".
Abstract: Environmental justice and social movements scholarship demonstrates how not-in-my-backyard activism by more privileged communities leaves the disadvantaged with “locally unwanted land uses.” Yet it...
55 citations
TL;DR: In recent years, sociologists have focused less on cultural tastes as "effects" of social structure and more on their causal efficacy in the creation and maintenance of social ties as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In recent years, sociologists have focused less on cultural tastes as “effects” of social structure and more on their causal efficacy in the creation and maintenance of social ties. Progress on thi...
49 citations
TL;DR: The literature on mass incarceration has focused on the labor market consequence of imprisonment and the implications of those effects for r... as mentioned in this paper, where the authors focus on the impact of racially disproportionate imprisonment rates.
Abstract: Because of racially disproportionate imprisonment rates, the literature on mass incarceration has focused on the labor market consequence of imprisonment and the implications of those effects for r...
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral psychotherapeutic practices and show that all therapists rely on emotions' supportive role to understand patients' internal states, while cognitive behavioral colleagues only rely on this strategy when their own tools fail to show results.
Abstract: Knowledge practices, expert and nonexpert alike, have received increased scholarly attention, but their affective underpinnings remain little understood. This article builds on the extant literature and on original ethnographic and interview data to elaborate a model of affective-relational knowledge that distinguishes between emotions’ supportive, didactic, and inductive roles in expert work. The author compares psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral psychotherapeutic practices and shows that all therapists rely on emotions’ supportive role. However, while psychoanalytic therapists depend on their emotions’ inductive function to understand patients’ internal states, their cognitive behavioral colleagues only rely on this strategy when their own tools fail to show results, emphasizing instead the didactic uses of their affective dispositions. Additionally, clinicians in these orientations adopt different strategies to legitimize their affective-relational work. Although psychotherapists are especially li...
44 citations
TL;DR: This paper used a new database of subscribers to the New York Philharmonic to explore how high culture became a form of socially valuable capital in late-19th-century America, and found that high culture was a valuable source of social capital.
Abstract: This article uses a new database of subscribers to the New York Philharmonic to explore how high culture became a form of socially valuable capital in late-19th-century America. The authors find su...
43 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal analysis of local labor markets is conducted to determine the heterogeneous set of causes of within-group inequality, or the inequality occurring among workers and households otherwise similar on observed characteristics.
Abstract: This study assesses the causes of within-group inequality, or the inequality occurring among workers and households otherwise similar on observed characteristics. The author situates his research in a longitudinal analysis of local labor markets to determine the heterogeneous set of causes of within-group inequality. A data set is constructed locating within- and between-group portions of male wage, female wage, and household income inequality from nine waves of the integrated public use microdata series from the U.S. census in 722 temporally stable geographical units that cover the entire contiguous United States. Results from heteroscedastic and multilevel repeated-measures regression models reveal that within-group inequality follows economic development along a U-shaped pattern and that the well-established curvilinear relationship between development and inequality occurs specifically through the within-group portion of wages and incomes. Other factors—including sector change, occupational task conce...
39 citations
TL;DR: The past several decades have seen a decline in employment rates and labor force participation, particularly among low-skilled, minority men living in poor areas as mentioned in this paper, as low-skill jobs disappear from p...
Abstract: The past several decades have seen a decline in employment rates and labor force participation, particularly among low-skilled, minority men living in poor areas. As low-skill jobs disappear from p...
TL;DR: The unequal spatial distribution of crime is an enduring feature of cities as mentioned in this paper, and while research suggests that spatial diffusion processes heighten this concentration, the actual mechanisms of diffusion are unknown.
Abstract: The unequal spatial distribution of crime is an enduring feature of cities. While research suggests that spatial diffusion processes heighten this concentration, the actual mechanisms of diffusion ...
TL;DR: The reduction in sample sizes associated with the ACS appears to exaggerate the evidence for increasing income segregation for all measures tested here.
Abstract: Recent studies have reported a reversal of an earlier trend in income segregation in metropolitan regions, from a decline in the 1990s to an increase in the 2000-2010 decade. This finding reinforces concerns about the growing overall income inequality in the U.S. since the 1970s. Yet the evidence may be systematically biased to show an upward trend because the effective sample for the American Community Survey (ACS) is much smaller than it was for Census 2000, to which it is being compared. There is a possibility that the apparent changes in disparities across census tracts result partly from a higher level of sampling variation and bias due to the smaller sample. This study uses 100% microdata from the 1940 census to simulate the impact of different sampling rates on estimates of several measures of segregation and to propose and test the effectiveness of approaches to correcting the bias. It then applies those approaches to publicly available data for 2000 and 2007-2011. The reduction in sample sizes associated with the ACS results in exaggeration of evidence for increasing income segregation for all measures tested here, especially for subgroups (African Americans are studied here as an example). The methods of correction applied here will yield more conclusive and unbiased results when applied to the original sample data that is held internally by the Census Bureau.
TL;DR: The authors have focused on the extent to which transnational interventions compel recalcitrant governments to reduce levels of domestic repression, but few have considered how such interventive interventions can impact domestic repression.
Abstract: Existing research has focused on the extent to which transnational interventions compel recalcitrant governments to reduce levels of domestic repression, but few have considered how such interventi...
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative ethnographic analysis of three middle schools that vary by socio-economic status was conducted to compare the digital skills they learn from each other in the digital age.
Abstract: Adults may still be catching up to digital age, but digital youth bring to school digital skills they learn from each other. Comparative ethnographic analysis of three middle schools that vary by s...
TL;DR: The authors found that black men were most likely to be imprisoned in the convict lease system where they overcame whites' efforts to preserve their position as dependent agricultural laborers, where elite white landowners were able to reconstitute a dependent agricultural labor force.
Abstract: In 1868, the state of Georgia began punishing convicts by leasing them to private companies. Georgia’s transition from penitentiary confinement to convict leasing coincided with a shift in the composition of its inmates. Fifteen years after the Civil War, African-Americans in Georgia were imprisoned at a rate more than 12 times that of whites. This article finds that black men were most likely to be imprisoned in the convict lease system where they overcame whites’ efforts to preserve their position as dependent agricultural laborers. Where elite white landowners were able to reconstitute a dependent agricultural labor force, they had little reason to use the convict lease system to punish their workers. But in urban counties and in counties where African-Americans had acquired considerable landholdings, black men faced comparatively high rates of imprisonment for property crimes.
TL;DR: Most scholars believe that this transition is explained by the rise of capitalism, but have long disagreed about why it ma... as mentioned in this paper, and why societies today distribute political power more equally than before.
Abstract: Why do societies today distribute political power more equally than before? Most scholars believe that this transition is explained by the rise of capitalism but have long disagreed about why it ma...
TL;DR: In Absalom, Absalon, Absaloms!, William Faulkner develops a processual model for how multivocal narrative history and time can emerge from conversation among heterogeneous subjective voices, both living and dead.
Abstract: In Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner develops a processual model for how multivocal narrative history and time can emerge from conversation among heterogeneous subjective voices, both living and d...
TL;DR: Despite modernity's love affair with rationality and the precision that supports it, ambiguity persists not only in humor and politics but in all areas of contemporary life including scholarship an... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Despite modernity’s love affair with rationality and the precision that supports it, ambiguity persists not only in humor and politics but in all areas of contemporary life including scholarship an...
TL;DR: The authors argue that transnational connections are the primary conduits for global cultural diffusion and, therefore, that affluent residents of the densely populated areas of the world identify as a world citizen.
Abstract: Who identifies as a world citizen? Many scholars argue that transnational connections are the primary conduits for global cultural diffusion and, therefore, that affluent residents of the densely c...
TL;DR: This article used comparative-historic literature to identify poetry milieus in 20th-century Turkey that experienced nonwestern secularization in a relatively inclusive manner, using comparative-historical data.
Abstract: Nonwestern secularization has the reputation of an elitist project, but poetry milieus in 20th-century Turkey experienced secularization in a relatively inclusive manner. Using comparative-historic...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose and test a novel theory of how decisions not to hire reproduce gender segregation through what they term proportional prejudice, and they hypothesize that employers are less likely...
Abstract: The authors propose and test a novel theory of how decisions not to hire reproduce gender segregation through what they term proportional prejudice. They hypothesize that employers are less likely ...
TL;DR: The classic theory is ambiguous regarding what is most meaningful for workers and workplaces, as suggested by Weber, or problematized by problematization, as argued by.
Abstract: Classic theory is ambiguous regarding what is most meaningful for workers and workplaces. Are bureaucratic rules most consequential by providing predictability, as suggested by Weber, or problemati...
TL;DR: In southern cities the authors find qualitatively distinct configurations that include not only black “neighborhoods” as usually imagined but also backyard housing, alley housing, and side streets that were predominantly black.
Abstract: Studies of residential segregation typically focus on its degree without questioning its scale and configuration. The authors study southern cities in 1880 to emphasize the salience of these spatial dimensions. Distance-based and sequence indices can reflect spatial patterns but with some limitations, while geocoded 100% population data make possible more informative measures. One improvement is flexibility in spatial scale, ranging from adjacent buildings to whole districts of the city. Another is the ability to map patterns in fine detail. In southern cities the authors find qualitatively distinct configurations that include not only black “neighborhoods” as usually imagined but also backyard housing, alley housing, and side streets that were predominantly black. These configurations represent the sort of symbolic boundaries recognized by urban ethnographers. By mapping residential configurations and interpreting them in light of historical accounts, the authors intend to capture meanings that are too o...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate if and how employment discrimination litigation promotes gender and race equality among targeted firms, using data on 171 high-profile sex and race discrimination lawsuits settled against publicly traded companies between 1997 and 2007.
Abstract: Drawing on institutional theories of corporate response to the law, the authors investigate if and how employment discrimination litigation promotes gender and race equality among targeted firms. Using data on 171 high-profile sex and race discrimination lawsuits settled against publicly traded companies between 1997 and 2007, the authors estimate the impact of lawsuit resolutions on subsequent changes in managerial sex and race composition. Results show that the impact of lawsuit resolutions depends on the conditions surrounding the resolution. Lawsuit resolutions that produce a drop in stock prices for defendants, attract national media coverage, and mandate organizational policy changes improve white women’s, black women’s, and black men’s access to management, while those that involve costly monetary payouts have no or negative effects. These findings demonstrate how market and legal pressures interact to affect workplace practices and managerial diversity.
TL;DR: Demographic and ecological theories yield mixed evidence as to whether ethnic enclaves are a benefit or a hindrance to the status attainment of residents and entrepreneurs as mentioned in this paper, and they provide on...
Abstract: Demographic and ecological theories yield mixed evidence as to whether ethnic enclaves are a benefit or a hindrance to the status attainment of residents and entrepreneurs. This article provides on...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the exploitability of categorical trust within social groups to the deterrent effect of categorically defined trust in social groups and show that trust creates vulnerability to exploitation.
Abstract: Trust creates vulnerability to exploitation. This article approaches this paradox by comparing the exploitability of categorical trust within social groups to the deterrent effect of categorical di...
TL;DR: The authors show that the proliferation of chart-based economic models was a profound transformation of early economic thought on both qualitative and quantitative dimensions in 17th-century England, leading to the development of the Charting Board.
Abstract: Seventeenth-century England was the site of a profound transformation of early economic thought on both qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The authors show that the proliferation of the chart...
TL;DR: Within neighborhood studies, the organizational dimension has been relatively neglected despite theory predicting a relative lack of organizations in more deprived neighborhoods as discussed by the authors, despite the fact that there are many organizations in poorer neighborhoods.
Abstract: Within neighborhood studies, the organizational dimension has been relatively neglected despite theory predicting a relative lack of organizations in more deprived neighborhoods. This article provi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors exploit the unique opportunity offered by the emergence of a new political party in Turkey, and the electoral features of the country's majoritarian system, to estimate the effect of politics and religion on marriage and fertility.
Abstract: The plethora of pathways leading to family formation decisions has made the causal assessment of the influence of politics and religion on marriage and fertility difficult. The authors exploit the unique opportunity offered by the emergence of a new political party in Turkey, and the electoral features of the country’s majoritarian system, to estimate the effect of politics and religion on marriage and fertility. The AK Parti (Justice and Development Party), with an explicitly Islamist platform, won Turkish elections in 2002, taking both a pro-natalist and pro-family stance, with increasing welfare expenditures and an explicit neoliberal agenda on macroeconomic issues. The authors analyze the results of the 2004 local elections using a regression discontinuity design and show that fertility and marriage rates have been significantly higher in districts where the AK Parti won. They argue that increased local welfare provision is the main explanatory mechanism, also discussing other alternative and complementary mechanisms.