Contexts

sociology for the public

Summer 2024

Volume: 23 | Number: 3

Contexts is trying to stay cool as the summer sizzles, blending dreams with reality. The essays in our new issue, Dream Horizons, are a panacea for the heat and your wanderlust. Whether you’re taking the family on a road trip, looking for a beach getaway, or just enjoying the sun, you’ll find plenty to ponder in these pages. No matter your summer dreams and realities, we hope this issue offers an island of warmth and reprieve. Being human means longing for the horizon, hoping and working for the promise of a brighter future.

travel and the times

How do you choose where to go on vacation? Maybe you consult friends or family or follow the advice of a travel influencer. Or maybe … Read More

saving money, saving relationships

When a friend or family member asks for money and you are unable or unwilling to help, how do you say no without damaging the … Read More

our forests, ourselves

Environmental dilemmas require social solutions. In North America, urbanites frequently lead the charge on environmental activism, often implicitly constructing rural people as oppositional to their … Read More

are you holding?

Say you want to buy or sell some secondhand fashion online. To determine whether the platform you intend to use is legitimate, you might look … Read More

a broader look at the housing crisis

As the housing crisis continues to affect millions of renters around the world, scholars tend to focus on urban areas. But people rent in rural … Read More

making merit

Elites often strive to justify their success by invoking the concept of merit. But how do they define merit? According to a new article by … Read More

Letter from the Editors: Summer 2024

Contexts is trying to stay cool as the summer sizzles, blending dreams with reality. The essays in our new issue, Dream … Read More

Summer 2024 Table of Contents

from the editors in brief: “Making Merit,” by Elena G. Van Stee. “A Broader Look at the Housing Crisis,” by Parker Muzzerall. “Saving … Read More

Q&A with Dr. Matthew P. Fox

In Matthew P. Fox and Steven E. Clayman’s summer 2024 Contexts feature, they explore the process of voir dire, or jury questioning, and efforts … Read More

Q&A with Dr. Andrea Kelley

Body-focused repetitive behaviors are DSM-classified as obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, but sufferers are frequently treated as being to blame for making themselves “ugly.” The case … Read More