Fabio Rojas

Sociological imperialism in three theories of the market

This essay reviews three prominent sociological studies of firms and markets: Neil Fligsteins The Architecture of Markets, Glenn Carroll and Michael Hannans The Demography of Corporations, and Harrison C. Whites Markets from Networks. The review essay discusses how economic sociology focuses on processes ignored by economists. However, research findings and theoretical developments are rarely reconciled or integrated with economic research. The conclusion discusses possible links between the varying schools of economic sociology and heterodox economic traditions such as contemporary institutional economics.

One Discipline, Two Tracks: An Analysis of the Journal Publication Records of Professors in Africana Studies Doctoral Programs

This article analyzes the journal publication records of professors working in doctoral degree-granting Africana studies programs. The journals most likely to publish the work of these scholars are the Journal of Black Studies, Callaloo, and other Africana-focused journals (e.g., Journal of Negro Education). Professors in the two Ivy League Africana doctoral programs are more likely to publish in non-Africana disciplinary journals (e.g., Quarterly Journal of Economics) or journals not strongly identified with any discipline (e.g., Critical Inquiry) than professors in other programs, who are much more likely to publish in the journals associated with the Africana studies field (e.g., Journal of Black Studies, The Black Scholar , or The Western Journal of Black Studies). This finding suggests that Africana studies has developed highly visible and central outlets for research, but these journals are not employed by Ivy League professors, who are likely vetting their research outside the Africana studies field.

Genuine Anger, Genuinely Misplaced:

The Contexts editors interview Arlie Hochschild about revisiting respondents after the 2016 election.

Wikipedia and the Politics of Openness

type of cultural capital, but the centrality type: the city as a cultural center. Here, L.A. clearly regains coherent place effects, giving rise to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Frank Gehry, the Doors, skateboarding, surf culture, car culture, and gangsta rap, along with major art museums and visual art movements. Sullivan covers a lot of ground. Street Level can be seen as an introduction to what is at stake in thinking about the complexity and contradictions found in geographic studies of Los Angeles. He reviews some of the major narratives about the city, as well as some emerging themes that arise more spontaneously from both historical and contemporary organizations throughout L.A. This book will serve as a useful resource for any readers wanting to understand the development of the idea of Los Angeles in geographic debates.

Book Review: Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical InnovationsMarket Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovations, by RaoHayagreeva. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009. 205 pp.

room). This is not a fatal flaw, as the authors are obviously well-versed in cognitive psychological and sociocultural theories and do a very nice job of considering and explaining what is at stake in these debates. However, the lack of discussion of many key institutional aspects of the environments in which investment banks operate will seem odd to the sociological reader. There is very little discussion of the institutional environment in which these firms are situated and very little discussion of how organizational cultures and structures are connected to these environments. For example, while the authors mention the turbulence of the 2000s for investment banking, I cannot recall one mention of the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 and the ways in which this fundamental institutional shift changed the talent markets and competition of these banks. More importantly, perhaps, the authors present the generalizable thesis that the model of organizational disruption practiced by Organization Bank is a superior model for mitigating risk. This is not just a hackneyed complaint about generalizing from two cases; the problem is a more basic flaw in the presentation of how organizational culture and risk mitigation work. The authors seem to believe that in the complexities of the new world economy, the classic organizational model is dead. However, there are many ways for firms to mitigate risk; it just depends on how the firm has set in place the structures and processes that allow the firm to produce the culture that is desired. The key issue is alignment: organizations can be successful when organized in more traditional ways, as long as management puts in place the structures and processes that align with a healthy culture. Nevertheless, these are small points in what is overall an outstanding treatise on the structure of careers in investment banking and, more generally, the roles of structure and career process in the creation of individual psychologies and organizational culture. Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovations, by Hayagreeva Rao. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009. 205pp.

24.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780691134567.

24.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780691134567.