New Books in Sociology

Mass violence comes not only from states, but also from people. By analyzing mass violence as social interaction through survivor accounts and other sources, Conditions of Violence (de Gruyter, 2024) presents understudied agents, aims and practices of direct violence and ways of action of those under persecution. Sound history – examining the noises of mass violence and persecution – is particularly telling about such practices. This volume shows that violence can become socially hegemonic, and some people claim a freedom to kill as a political right. To scrutinize indirect violence, which is often imperialist in character and claims many victims, the book proposes the concept of conditions of violence. These conditions are produced by definable groups of actors and foreseeably harm definable groups (which differs from the anonymous and static ‘structural violence’). This is exemplified in a case study concerning famines in World War II and another on COVID-19 as mass violence. Less global in character, other case studies in this volume deal with Rwanda, Bangladesh/East Pakistan and the Soviet Union. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Aiming to explore the Sino-Tibetan border region, which is renamed “Shangri-La” by the Chinese government for tourism promotion, Crafting a Tibetan Terroir (U Washington Press, 2025) examines how the deployment of the French notion of terroir creates new forms of ethno-regional identities and village landscapes through the production of Tibetan wine as a commodity. In Shangri-La, a rapidly developing international ethno-travel destination, European histories and global capitalism are being reestablished and reformulated through viticulture, which has altered landscapes and livelihoods.From the introduction of vineyards by nineteenth-century French and Swiss Catholic missionaries to make sacramental wine to twenty-first century commercialization, this ethnography documents the ways Tibetans are indigenizing modernity in the context of economic development on their own terms. It provides timely insight into China's rapid entry into the global wine market, highlighting the localized impacts of this emergent industry, which include transformation from subsistence agriculture to monocropping and intensified agrochemical use. It also addresses larger issues of international trade, suggesting that certain commodities - stimulants and intoxicants in particular - have long connected Europe and the Asia Pacific region, and that these connections are now being reconceived in fashioning new industries and identities.Brendan A. Galipeau is a Lecturer in Binghamton University’s Environmental Studies program. He is the author of Crafting a Tibetan Terroir: Winemaking in Shangri-La (University of Washington Press, 2025). His research and publications broadly focus on environmental and social change and human relations with nature in southwest China and Taiwan.Yadong Li is a socio-cultural anthropologist-in-training. He is registered as a PhD student at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of economic anthropology, medical anthropology, hope studies, and the anthropology of borders and frontiers. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Not so long ago, comedy and laughter were a shared experience of relief, as Freud famously argued. At their best, ribbing, roasting, piss-taking and insulting were the foundation of a kind of universal culture from which friendship, camaraderie and solidarity could emerge.Now, comedy is characterized by edgy humour and misplaced jokes that provoke personal and social anxiety, causing divisive cultural warfare in the media and among people. Our comedy is fraught with tension like never before, and so too is our social life. We often hear the claim that no one can take a joke anymore. But what if we really can’t take jokes anymore?Post-Comedy (Polity, 2025) argues that the spirit of comedy is the first step in the building of society, but that it has been lost in the era of divisive identity politics. Comedy flares up debates about censorship and cancellation, keeping us divided from one other. This goes against the true universalist spirit of comedy, which is becoming a thing of the past and must be recovered.Alfie Bown is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media at Kings College London. His research focuses on psychoanalysis, digital media and popular culture.He has also worked as a journalist, writing for The Guardian, Paris Review, New Statesman, Tribune, and others. His books include The Playstation Dreamworld, Post-Memes, and Dream Lovers: The Gamification of Relationships.He is the founder of Everyday Analysis which publishes pamphlets and essay collections with contemporary social and political issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

John Boswell, a Politics professor at the University of Southampton, and Jack Corbett, a Politics professor at Monash University, delve into their book, 'The Art and Craft of Comparison.' They discuss the innovative blend of comparative and interpretive methods in research. The duo emphasizes the value of personal narratives over AI tools in qualitative analysis and shares tips for early-career researchers. They also reflect on writing dilemmas and the significance of manual engagement in the research process, advocating for a creative and immersive approach.

Waiyee Loh, an Associate Professor of World Literature at Kanagawa University, discusses her book, revealing how Victorian Britain's legacy shapes global culture today. She explores the commodification of British culture in modern contexts like Japanese Lolita fashion and the collaboration between British and American cultural industries. Loh's insights into trans-imperial relationships highlight the complex dynamics of identity in Singapore and the ongoing impact of colonial histories on contemporary narratives in literature and popular culture.

In this captivating discussion, Deborah Reed-Donahay, a Professor of Anthropology at the University at Buffalo and author of 'Sideways Migration,' delves into the intriguing world of French middle-class migrants in London. She explores the motivations behind their relocation, shedding light on 'sideways migration' as a concept. The conversation also highlights how Brexit has reshaped their experiences of identity and belonging, fueling challenges and resilience in maintaining their cultural ties while navigating a new social landscape.

Paul G. Keil, a human-animal anthropologist from the Czech Academy of Sciences, dives into the delicate interplay of human-elephant coexistence in Assam. He shares insights from his two years of ethnographic research, exploring how humans and elephants navigate shared landscapes and cultural significances. The conversation highlights the challenges of urban development, the vulnerabilities of both species, and critiques conventional conservation approaches. Keil emphasizes the need for nuanced understanding amidst the cultural and environmental intricacies of this human-elephant relationship.

Noam Leshem, author of "Edges of Care: Living and Dying in No Man's Land," examines the urgent political reality of abandoned spaces across the globe. He discusses the complexities of caregiving and isolation in these no man’s lands, highlighting personal narratives from places like Gaza and Syria. Leshem challenges traditional views on abandonment by showcasing how resilient communities thrive despite neglect. The conversation explores identity, responsibility, and reimagines no man’s land as spaces of potential rather than emptiness, urging a deeper understanding of their significance.

Clean water, paved roads, public transit, electricity and gas, sewers, waste processing, telecommunication, even the Internet – all this infrastructure is what makes cities work and powers our lives, often seamlessly and silently. Virtually everything we do and consume depends on infrastructure. Yet, most people have little to no idea how these systems work. How is water treated? How do cities manage rainwater? Why do traffic jams exist? How is electricity generated and distributed? What happens to trash after it is picked up? How does the Internet work?In The Infrastructure Book: How Cities Work and Power Our Lives (Prometheus Books, 2025), world-renowned urban engineering expert Sybil Derrible reveals the behind-the-scenes machinations of the foundational systems that make our societies function. Visiting sixteen cities around the world and their unique approaches to organizational challenges – from water distribution in Hong Kong to waste management in Tokyo, and from Chicago’s power grid to low Earth orbit satellites in space – this highly readable book uses fascinating case studies and historical detours to show how infrastructure works – and, sometimes, doesn’t.With large-scale infrastructure repairs looming and the need for existing infrastructure to be transformed, the book also shows how infrastructure can be more sustainable and resilient. After reading The Infrastructure Book, readers will never look at a city the same way.Sybil Derrible is a professor of urban engineering and director of the Complex and Sustainable Urban Networks Laboratory at the University of Illinois Chicago. He is a world-renowned scholar on infrastructure and a lead author on the United Nations Environmental Program’s Seventh Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7) report. He received the Walter L. Huber Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers and a CAREER Award from the US National Science Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

In times of extreme violence, what explains peace in some places? This book investigates geographic variation in Hindu-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002, an event witnessed closely by the author. Dhattiwala compares peaceful and violent towns, villages, and neighborhoods to study how political violence spreads. A combination of statistical and ethnographic methods unpack the mechanisms of crowd behavior, intergroup relations, and political incentives. She analyzes macro-level risk factors to provide a close understanding of the behavior of people who participated in the violence, were targeted by it and, often, compelled to carry on living alongside their perpetrators. Keeping the Peace systematically demonstrates the implicit political logic of the violence. Most of all, by moving up close to the people caught in the middle of violence, the author highlights the interplay between politics, the spatial environment, and the cognitive decision-making processes of individuals. Raheel Dhattiwala is an independent social scientist based in India (D.Phil. in Sociology; Oxford University) and honorary member of the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg (formerly, Baden-Württemberg Fellow 2023-24). Vatsal Naresh is a Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard University. His recent publications include co-edited volumes on Negotiating Democracy and Religious Pluralism (OUP 2021) and Constituent Assemblies (CUP 2018). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology