Browsing FAS Theses and Dissertations by FAS Department "Sociology"
Now showing items 21-40 of 45
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Institutional and Cultural Roots of Industrial Development in Modern Turkey
(2014-06-06)In this dissertation I investigate the historical, institutional, and cultural roots of different regional development trajectories in modern Turkey. Historical comparison of two similar cities of 1920's, namely Kutahya ... -
Life Chances: Infant Mortality, Institutions, and Inequality in the United States
(2015-05-19)The dissertation explores variation in socio-demographic inequalities in infant mortality in the U.S. with three empirical chapters. The first empirical chapter focuses on inequalities in the likelihood of infant mortality ... -
Local Traditions, Community Building, and Cultural Adaptation in Reform Era Rural China
(2014-10-21)This dissertation examines the so-called revival of local traditions in reform-era China. It compares the different paths of adapting local traditions to market transitions and a changing political landscape. Three questions ... -
The Making of a National Cadastre (1763-1807): State Uniformization, Nature Valuation, and Organizational Change in France
(2014-10-21)How does a cadastre, one of the modern state's most omnipresent and yet self-effacing instruments of power over territory and people, become national? How are the processes of nation-state formation and the rise of modern ... -
Managing in the Face of Ambiguity and Uncertainty: The Problems of Interpretation and Coordination in Juvenile Justice Organizations
(2012-10-31)Drawing on field work at three different juvenile justice organizations, this dissertation explores the joint problems of interpretation and coordination in the face of problems marked by moral ambiguity and practical ... -
Meritless: Unemployed Autoworkers, the Social Safety Net, and the Culture of Meritocracy in America and Canada
(2013-02-22)This study examines the worsening position of jobless blue-collar workers in an increasingly meritocratic economy, and uses an innovative crossnational comparative approach to gauge how much the social safety net improves ... -
Motherhood on the Outside: Reintegration and Moral Meaning Making among Ex-Offender Mothers
(2013-09-30)This dissertation examines how formerly incarcerated mothers manage the moral ambiguity associated with their ex-offender identity. In studying this group I address how the event of motherhood shapes how women frame their ... -
Public Opinion, National Party Positions, and the European Commission: Contours of the Public Sphere in the European Union
(2013-02-22)As the realm of social life where public opinion forms, the public sphere has been the focus of much theoretical debate and empirical operationalization in political sociology. However, by conceptualizing the public sphere ... -
Race and Status Dynamics in the NBA
(2018-05-13)Sociologists have long been interested in racial inequality and status dynamics in groups and organizations. In this dissertation, I study these topics in the context of NBA basketball. The richness of the data, plus the ... -
Reconceiving Risk: Relational Understandings of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and the Down-Low
(2017-05-13)This research advances sociological theorizing of risk through examinations of a sexual technology and a sexual practice. The sexual technology is the preventative HIV medication, Truvada for PrEP. The sexual practice is ... -
Religion, Romance, and Work: Sources of Resilience among Low-Income Men
(2013-02-20)Despite a resurgence of qualitative research on the cultural aspects of poverty, very few studies have examined how low-income men find resilience in response to the risks of living in severe disadvantage. Moreover, virtually ... -
The Rise of the Horizontal Ghetto: Poverty in a Post-public Housing Era
(2014-06-06)In the past two decades, changes in American housing policy have transformed the landscape of high-rise ghetto poverty. In its place, has emerged what I call the horizontal ghetto, where high-rise public housing has been ... -
Same Folks, Different Strokes: Class, Culture, and the “New” Diversity at Elite Colleges and Universities
(2016-05-14)Beginning in 1998, selective colleges began adopting no-loan admissions policies to increase socioeconomic diversity. These colleges, however, get their new diversity from old sources. I show how half of lower-income black ... -
Separatists, Gangsters and Other Statesmen: The State, Secession and Organized Crime in Serbia and Georgia, 1989-2012
(2015-05-15)What role does organized crime play in determining the success of separatist movements? I explore the role of organized crime in the separatist movements of Kosovo in Serbia and South Ossetia in Georgia, two most similar ... -
Shareholder Value and Workforce Downsizing, 1981-2006
(2012-11-15)Even before the current economic meltdown, waves of downsizing, starting in the late 1970s, had swept corporate America, eroding workers’ expectations of economic security. But not only did downsizing become more prevalent ... -
Slow Train Coming: Power, Politics, and Redevelopment Planning in an American City
(2016-05-18)Who decides which neighborhoods receive affordable housing, community gardens, or job centers? How do these organizations and agencies get a seat at the decision-making table? And what can urban redevelopment politics tell ... -
Stratification in the Early Stages of Mate Choice
(2013-02-14)Sociologists have long studied mate choice patterns to understand the shape of stratification systems. Romantic pairing involves intimacy and trust, and is therefore a prime indicator of the extent to which members of ... -
Teaching Transformations: History Education and Race Relations in Post-Apartheid South Africa
(2013-09-18)How do nations deal with their difficult, shameful, and traumatic past? I tackle this question by examining how the history of apartheid is taught to--and understood by--South African high school students. I further examine ... -
The Emergence of the On-Demand Economy and Its Significance for Workers
(2017-08-10)This dissertation examines the emergence of the on-demand economy and its significance for workers, taking Uber Technologies as the primary empirical case. I ask three questions involving the social processes underlying ... -
The New Economic Segmentation: Work, Inequality, and Market Power
(2018-05-16)This dissertation considers how changes in organizations and product markets contributed to rising earnings inequality and wage stagnation since the 1970s. The first chapter shows how the spread of unequal bargaining ...