Me on the AAU "The AAU claims to be comprised of America’s leading research unis...But if the member presidents choose the guise of institutional neutrality as a way to gain political cover, they may now be leading higher ed toward greater authoritarianism." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares

Powerful organizations during the Red Scares crafted a world where “academic freedom” was conditional on political allegiance.

insidehighered.com

We are thrilled to announce that Theorizing Our Times, the new blog of the ASA Theory Section, is officially live! Go check out our inaugural post, “Kinship Interlocks,” by @shayobrien.bsky.social! asatheory.com/theorizing-o...

Theorizing Our Times

The Blog · Theory Section Theorizing Our Times Submit a Piece Essays, interventions, and notes from the Theory community.

asatheory.com

odd: Graham Nordone is among the potentially legitimate heiresses, but the palace had previously assured us that duchess Chao would stand first to inherit the Duchy of South Carolina - thus implying that she has first right of refusal. We need reassurance from the Vatican that this is proper.

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 3w ago

The sister of Senator Graham, Darline Graham Nordone, will finish his Senate term after his death on Saturday, the South Carolina governor said. She does not appear to have previous political experience. nyti.ms/4fjvMnp

feels like a real landmark of impunity that major corporations are making federal crimes part of the interview process

Paresh Dave@peard33.bsky.social · 4w ago

OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan allegedly helped coach recruits on how to evade Apple’s data security protocols and directed them to bring confidential Apple parts to job interviews at OpenAI. www.wired.com/story/apple-...

‘Polarization’ has become the master concept for diagnosing our current democratic crisis. But this is not polarization. It is the radicalization of the political right. By misdiagnosing it, we risk becoming complicit in the crisis. 🧵 Just out in Perspectives on Politics doi.org/10.1017/S153...

📢 Correction: We apologize for the confusion, the venue and date have changed. The event will now take place tomorrow, June 24, at the Institute of Sociology, @tuberlin.bsky.social. 📍 Frauenhoferstraße 33–38, 10587 Berlin, room FH 804/805 We look forward to seeing you there!

Economics Department J.-F.-Kennedy Institute@jfki-econ.bsky.social · last mo.

🗓️Thursday, May 25.06. We are very happy to welcome @shayobrien.bsky.social (@mitpress.bsky.social) at the Research Seminar in Economics at FU Berlin. Presenting her work on: "Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence".

🗓️Thursday, May 25.06. We are very happy to welcome @shayobrien.bsky.social (@mitpress.bsky.social) at the Research Seminar in Economics at FU Berlin. Presenting her work on: "Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence".

High status never walks alone: A recent study by @shayobrien.bsky.social shows how an urban upper class reproduces through kinship networks that interlock economic, political, and social elite positions ("Soziale Systeme" @faznet.bsky.social) www.faz.net/aktuell/wiss... #sociology

Welt des Reichtums: Was vor sozialem Abstieg schützt.

Wer den gesellschaftlichen Aufstieg geschafft hat, kann darauf bauen, dass sein Netzwerk den Abstieg verhindert. Die sozialen Kontakte müssen allerdings bestimmte Bedingungen erfüllen.

faz.net

Documenting the wealth of California’s billionaires and the taxes they pay, and presenting revenue estimates for the California billionaire tax proposal, from Jasper Boll, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman www.nber.org/papers/w35218

Remember: Wealth cannot be separated from power. We're seeing in real time how the extreme concentration of wealth is distorting our politics, rigging markets, and granting unprecedented power to a handful of people. Taxing the rich isn't just an economic issue, it's a defense of our democracy.

1/ New @Nature! We study how powerful institutions shape the information environment for LLMs. Commercial LLM training is opaque, so we trace a path from state-coordinated media -> training data -> model responses.

Simon Johnson and I are hiring a postdoc at MIT to research the history, social implications, and future of technology. The job description and application link are available here: shapingwork.mit.edu/careers/jame...

James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work Postdoctoral Associate - MIT Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work

Position Overview Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson are recruiting a Postdoctoral Associate to research the history, social implications, and future of technology. The position is…

shapingwork.mit.edu

MIT Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work@mitshapingwork.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We're hiring a postdoc at MIT! The Postdoctoral Associate will work closely with @dacemoglumit.bsky.social and @simonhrjohnson.bsky.social to conduct research on the history, social implications and future of technology. Learn more and apply by June 15: shapingwork.mit.edu/careers/jame...

The Stone Center at MIT is hiring another postdoc! This is a GREAT job: the work is interesting and creative, and you’ll have time for your own research, too. I think a sociologist or historian working on technology/inequality (broadly defined) would be an especially good fit!!

James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work Postdoctoral Associate - MIT Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work

Position Overview Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson are recruiting a Postdoctoral Associate to research the history, social implications, and future of technology. The position is…

shapingwork.mit.edu

New study @sfjournal.bsky.social: Initial work on my theory of "rulling class religion," which I'll developfurther at @russellsagefdn.bsky.social next year. Using 3 data sets, we link Christian nationalism with endorsing economic inequality BUT only among higher earners. 1/3 doi.org/10.1093/sf/s...

At its core, the political economy of scholarship was never supposed to rely on ~$50k from a smelting fortune. Institutions have hollowed out their support, the feds have done the same, and all that's left is inadequate private funding.

Robert Kelchen@robertkelchen.com · 4mo ago

External funding is rapidly reaching crazy levels of competition. Good luck, folks. www.gf.org/stories/anno...

"The petitioners are asking ASA members to gawp at human misery, death, and destruction as dispassionate experts, blink, and proclaim that they shall not speak on the issue, as it is very complex and contested." Roi Livne and an anonymous co-author respond to the recent petition on scatterplot

guest post: the sociologist as bystander

The following is a guest post by Roi Livne and an anonymous co-author. They called them “aid distribution centers.” Orwell himself would not have thought of a better term. Every day, shortly after …

scatter.wordpress.com

A fascinating new article in Sociological Theory explains why transgender "makes sense" and transracial does not. Duran argues this reflects the different constructions of the two systems, not an illogical incoherence of the left. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

I am starstruck!!!!! One of my favorite sociologists and writers of all time 😭😭😭

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4mo ago

One of the more engaging citations I’ve received in awhile. Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence By Shay O’Briena in ASR journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

"all fortunes are family fortunes, all power is family power, and all status is family status" That's a powerful line

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4mo ago

One of the more engaging citations I’ve received in awhile. Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence By Shay O’Briena in ASR journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." –Justice Louis Brandeis

Is it any wonder people feel the system is rigged?

#HB249 just passed committee. “A bill that Ohio Republicans say will protect children from indecent exposure counts among its cosponsors a lawmaker whose own conduct toward a minor was described as “concerning and suspicious” by the prosecutor who reviewed an investigation into his behavior.”

Ohio GOP's drag ban cosponsor was accused of sexual misconduct with minor relative

Ohio Republicans are pushing HB 249 to ban drag performances in the name of child safety. One of the bill's 42 cosponsors, state Rep. Rodney Creech, was accused of climbing into bed with a minor relat...

tiffinohio.net

My latest article is online now at American Sociological Review: “Kinship Interlocks.” It’s about how some elite families manage to stay rich and powerful for many generations while others don’t. 🧵 (1/16)

Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence - Shay O’Brien, 2026

How do some families manage to entrench themselves in the upper class for many generations while others do not? Bringing together economic sociology, political ...

journals.sagepub.com

Join the @umichstonecid.bsky.social for @shdoron1.bsky.social - The Family Office: Wealth Elite and their Family Management Tuesday, March 24, 10:30am-12:00pm EDT RSVP to save your seat: myumi.ch/z9djn 1430 ISR-Thompson

Tuesday! Our own faculty affiliate @motorres.bsky.social will present, “Inequality or Incompetence? Urban Fiscal Crisis and the Spatial Politics of Blame.” Don’t miss it. Get the details & RSVP: myumi.ch/kPzWM

Unity-for-its-own-sake isn't valuable. If @asanews.bsky.social can't stand against genocide, then what good is it and what's the point of it being unified?

Sociologists for Palestine have asked members to send us the letters they have written to @asanews.bsky.social. We are sharing them here as evidence of how unpopular this decision is with the ASA membership. Please amplify this thread & any letters that resonate with your position.

THE SWITHEROO Hey, I have a new WP out now on @socarxiv.bsky.social ! In the paper, I study the full network of partnerships in Norway since 1967 up to today. I examine the general structure of the partnerships network, and the existence of a specific type of network: the partner switcheroo. 1/x

⬇️ For your consideration: Watch to learn about the $220M taxpayer-funded ad campaign that's tied to a mysterious Delaware LLC and a horse named Gill. More details: propub.li/4uoc28E

Tracy Jan@tracyjan.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Noem's one-minute $220 million ad cost more than nearly every film nominated for Best Picture at the upcoming 2026 Academy Awards: * Frankenstein * Marty Supreme * Sinners * Bugonia * Hamnet * Train Dreams * Sentimental Value * The Secret Agent

Join the @umichstonecid.bsky.social for @shayobrien.bsky.social - Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence Tuesday, March 10, 10:30am-12:00pm EDT RSVP to save your seat: myumi.ch/A15MJ 1430BD ISR-Thompson