No Kings Protest Anti-Orban Protest A central theme in Rethinking Analytical Sociology is my concern that the founders of analytical sociology presented the field as a general and universally applicable approach to sociological research. Associated with this claim is what I called "ABM fundamentalism" -- the view that computational models could and should be applied …
How are an individual’s political values formed?
March on Selma, 1965 Human beings have attitudes, behaviors, habits, stereotypes, and values. And somehow these mental attributes are developed or acquired in the course of normal human social life. But how, when, and with what results does this process work? And how persistent are a set of attitudes and values once established in the …
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Group identities and inclusive multicultural democracy
The United States is a multicultural democracy. This is simply an empirical fact; the country is a democracy (imperfect by many important measures); and it is multiracial, multi-ethnic, and multi-national. So what is involved in helping bring about a transition to an "inclusive" multicultural democracy -- a social and political order embodying fundamental equality across …
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New thinking about generational change about race
The United States has a long history of racism against African-Americans, at multiple levels. At the level of individuals, we have a history of negative attitudes, stereotypes, fears, and antagonisms that are built into the social consciousness of white men and women about African-Americans. Racist attitudes about "genetic inferiority", crime, and other negative stereotypes have …
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Maintaining social resilience
What is needed for a community of diverse people and groups to maintain its resilience in the face of hateful language, incidents, and provocations? This question is particularly important for universities, which commonly seek to create a climate of welcome and respect for the various groups of students who make them up, and which are …
How democracies die
image: Senator Josh Hawley salutes January 6 insurrection Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have written with growing alarm about the threat to our democracy by right-wing extremism. How Democracies Die was sobering when it appeared in 2017, and the publication of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point (2023) reaches an …
The role of political education in social progress
Stephen Esquith has spent much of his career observing, teaching, and engaging in "conflict societies", and trying to develop an understanding of how best to move from high-violence to low-violence societies. In particular he has spent a great deal of time in Mali in west Africa. He has come to emphasize the importance of "political …
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Affirming Democracy
If you are concerned about the fate of our democratic institutions, the rise of xenophobia and hate, and the rule of law, please consider following affirmingdemocracy.org -- an ongoing group blog aimed at affirming our democracy and opposing the racism, lawlessness, and authoritarianism we now face. This group blog describes its goals in these terms …
Confronting race through Rawls’s political philosophy
Rawls believes that a just society must be a pluralistic society, and that means that it must be neutral across (reasonable) comprehensive conceptions of the good. Citizens must be enabled to pursue their own comprehensive conceptions without interference from the state. Does this imply that a comprehensive conception based on the idea of ethnic or …
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Grounds for impeachment
In his speech to the top officers of the United States military Donald Trump has crossed the line from reckless right-wing authoritarian politician to aspiring fascist dictator. Here is a report from the Washington Post on the unprecedented event; scroll down to Amy Wang's coverage of his speech. Here are some crucial excerpts from her …
Understanding Society 