Contexts

sociology for the public

Winter 2023

Volume: 22 | Number: 1

One common thread across the enthralling work in this issue is the unfulfilled promise of choice, or perhaps what it means to extol freedom while maintaining unequal options across a range of contexts. In this vein, you’ll read about the “optional illusions” faced by cisgender Black women under the spectre of CPS, by residents navigating consumer choice in mixed-income neighborhoods, and by parents struggling to balance budgets and keep their kids diapered. You’ll find a story about the binds that result in unwanted heterosex, and another about how researchers’ choices affect what we can know about phenomena like mass shootings.

trans joy

Sociology tends more toward documenting social problems than human joy. But despite the many negative experiences of marginalized groups, like transgender people (who, we know, … Read More

policing community complaints

Amid rising scrutiny of police violence, many U.S. departments have implemented “neighborhood policing” strategies meant to facilitate non-enforcement contact between police and the community. For … Read More

anchored in hypermasculine orgs

In a recent American Sociological Review article, Stephanie Bonnes asks what perpetuates organizational cultures of violence and misogyny. Drawing on in-depth interviews with … Read More

fight-or-flight for america

When was the last time anger or fear got the best of you? A jump scare, a close call, a confrontation? For most of us, … Read More

who’s lonely?

The COVID-19 pandemic gave us all a taste of social isolation, which mental health experts have long warned is detrimental to our well-being. Barring a … Read More

food insecurity triggering migration

Well-worn explanations of international migration flows focus on factors such as poverty and political instability. New evidence, however, shows migration is increasingly associated with climate … Read More

Winter 2023 From the Editors

Once upon a New York Times, American columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof urged, “Professors, We Need You!” Kristof incited an impassioned conversation … Read More

Winter 2023 Table of Contents

from the editors in brief: “Fight or Flight for America,” by Parker Muzzerall. “The Moral Appeal of McDonald’s,” by Parker Muzzerall. “Anchored in … Read More