SSHA Book Symposium: How Civic Action Works

Lichterman, Paul. 2021. How Civic Action Works: Fighting for Housing in Los Angeles. Princeton University Press. Notes for Paul: How Civic Action Works Ann Mische University of Notre Dame It’s such a joy to have the chance to read and reflect on “How Civic Action Works”!  I remember discussing this project with Paul over a decade ago when it was still a twinkle in his … Continue reading SSHA Book Symposium: How Civic Action Works

Book Review: Ruling Culture

By Tania Aparicio Morales, PhD Full-Time Lecturer, Program in Arts Administration Teachers College Columbia University How did Italy become a global cultural power? In Ruling Culture, Fiona Greenland argues that Italian state patrimony became an influential culture powerhouse because of unique dynamics of internal disputes and intimidation among tomb robbers, artifacts, policies, policing, and soil. Her book is the result of many transformations: the natural … Continue reading Book Review: Ruling Culture

Book Review: Figures of the Future

By Mari Sanchez PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology Harvard University Amidst Census predictions of an impending minority-majority future, scholars and pundits across the political spectrum have taken demographic trends at face value to debate the implications for American society. Figures for the Future: Latino Civil Rights and the Politics of Demographic Change (Princeton University Press 2021), a co-winner of the Mary Douglas Award for Best … Continue reading Book Review: Figures of the Future

Book Review

Scripting the Moves Golann, J. W. 2021. Scripting the Moves: Culture and Control in a” No-Excuses” Charter School. Princeton University Press Reviewed by Peter Francis Harvey (University of Pennsylvania) During Monty Python’s classic comedy movie, The Life of Brian, the titular character wakes one morning to find an enormous, adoring crowd camped outside his window. Believing him to be the messiah, they call in unison for … Continue reading Book Review

Book Review: “Measuring Culture”

Mohr, John W., Bail, Christopher, Frye, Margaret, Lena, Jennifer, Lizardo, Omar, McDonnell, Terence, Mische, Ann, Tavory, Iddo, Wherry, Frederick. 2020. Measuring Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. Review by Alex van Venrooij (University of Amsterdam) In 2003, John Mohr wrote a short essay for this newsletter on what he thought other sociologists should know about cultural sociology. For Mohr, cultural sociology could potentially play a … Continue reading Book Review: “Measuring Culture”

Book Review: “Creating the Creation Museum”

Oberlin, Kathleen C. 2020. Creating the Creation Museum: How Fundamentalist Beliefs Come to Life. New York: NYU Press. Reviewed by Gemma Mangione On January 22, 2017, Kellyanne Conway — a senior adviser to then-president Donald J. Trump — defended the White House’s press secretary’s recent assessment that attendance numbers at Trump’s 2016 inauguration exceeded that of Barack Obama’s in 2008. Despite photo evidence to the … Continue reading Book Review: “Creating the Creation Museum”