"Civil Justice and Social Inequality" Speaker: Rebecca Sandefur, Arizona State University/Russell Sage Foundation Description: Millions of Americans every year face civil justice problems that can lead to bankruptcy, homelessness, poverty, family separation, and ill health. Thinking about civil justice in a new way, as a social institution, propels a growing research evidence base that reveals how civil justice contributes to inequality. At the same time, this evidence provides opportunities to... Read more »

Title: Decolonizing Classical Theory: A 'Contrapuntal' Reading of Auguste Comte Speaker: Zine Magubane, Boston College Description:  At first glance, the writings of Auguste Comte (the 'father' of positivism) would seem to offer very little of value for postcolonial sociology. Indeed, in the standard ways that Comte appears in disciplinary histories, this would appear at first... Read more »

Title: When Does Neighborhood Poverty Matter?  Using Large-Scale Data to Understand Heterogeneity Speaker: Mario Small, Harvard University Description: Research across the social sciences has demonstrated repeatedly that neighborhoods matter.  At this juncture, the question is how---a question that requires examining where, when, for whom, and under what conditions neighborhoods matter.  I show that these questions... Read more »

Speaker: Rina Agarwala, Johns Hopkins University Title: "Managing Migrants: Class and Emigration from India" Description: How are sending country governments managing the out-migration or emigration of their citizens and how are migrants reacting to and reshaping sending state actions?  This project employs a comparative-historical examination to answer these questions using a class lens. Contemporary global... Read more »