Research Agenda
My research is broadly motivated by pressing concerns about our democracy. I study contemporary political dynamics across three research streams (1) the politics of inclusion and engaged citizenship (2) the cultural and political dynamics of communication and (3) policy feedback effects.
Ultimately, my goal is to use this knowledge to imagine and build a more just, inclusive democracy that centers the needs and desires of ordinary citizens.
The Politics of Inclusion and Engaged Citizenship
My book project (and the dissertation that preceded it) examines efforts to include diverse young people in the political process, drawing on four years of ethnographic research and interviews with 90 participants in two community organizations in Wisconsin. I follow young citizens from their initial mobilization in high school through early adulthood, analyzing how these formative experiences shape their relationship with the state, political beliefs, and future civic engagement.
The Mirage of Democracy
Political Participation, Distrust, and a New Generation’s Fight for a More Democratic Future
Widespread political disaffection is often met with a call to action: If you want to save democracy, you must practice democracy. Vote, run for office, join a civic organization, speak at a town hall, take to the streets in protest. The Mirage of Democracy follows teenagers who heeded this call, accompanying them from their initial mobilization with youth-centered civic organizations through early adulthood as they built political campaigns, recruited peers, established relationships with politicians, testified at public hearings, and organized protests. Through four years of ethnographic fieldwork, I discovered an unanticipated consequence of this participation: They learned to distrust government. The book explains this phenomenon and advances a sociological theory of political distrust that illuminates the micro- and meso-level foundations of democratic crisis. At once a warning and an invitation, the book challenges us to imagine how to build political institutions worth trusting in pursuit of a more inclusive, responsive, multiracial democratic future.
An early version of this book was accepted to the 2024 Junior Theorist Symposium. The full manuscript is in preparation.
Mobilizing Potential
Pathways to Engaged Citizenship
In this article, I challenge the conventional wisdom that an interest in politics is a necessary precondition for political participation. I show how civic associations mobilize unpoliticized citizens through three mobilization pathways and further facilitate political socialization through formal political education, managing interactions with the state, and creating space for informal political discussion.
This article is published in Qualitative Sociology (link).
Making Political Citizens
How Student-Centered Social Movement
Organizations Facilitate Political Learning
In this article, I contribute to the literature on political socialization by theorizing political learning as an ongoing, multi-sited process as opposed to a static trait. I identify three conditions that help transform political learning into political commitments, showing how active, sustained participation across multiple mutually reinforcing sites facilitates process.
This article is published in The Sociological Quarterly (link).
"It Is Our Duty to Fight for Our Freedom"
How Legacies of Political Exclusion Shape Contemporary Activism and Attitudes
In this article, I contribute to the literature on political socialization by theorizing political learning as an ongoing, multi-sited process as opposed to a static trait. I identify three conditions that help transform political learning into political commitments, showing how active, sustained participation across multiple mutually reinforcing sites facilitates process.
This article received a revise & resubmit from RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.
The Cultural and Political Dynamics of Communication
I have several projects that speak to urgent concerns about misinformation, contention, and polarization by examining how various modes of communication - online, face-to-face, and in the news - shapes contemporary political dynamics.
"We're Cooked!"
Sarcasm, Snark, and Gallows Humor as a Cultural Tool for Political Activism
In a standalone article that draws from my dissertation, I argue that wit, sarcasm, and gallows humor are cultural tools that activists deploy in times of crisis to relieve tension, build community, and mitigate burnout. I accomplish this by using a novel dataset of conversations amongst young people as they reacted to a series of crises in the lead up to the 2024 election: Trump's felony convictions, the Trump-Biden Debate, the attempted assassination of Trump, Biden dropping out of the race, and Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee.
Data collection and analysis are ongoing for this paper.
The Local Roots of January 6th
January 6th is often conceptualized as an elite driven, national event. In this mixed-methods project, we examine the role that local Republican county parties played in fanning the flames for the #StopTheSteal movement on Facebook.
An article based on this research, co-authored with Jianing Li, Benny Witkovsky, Yiming Wang, Lewis A. Friedland, Michael W. Wagner, and Dhavan V. Shah, was published in Politics & Society (link). A public facing version of this piece was published in The Conversation (link). A methodological essay based on this project, co-authored with Jianing Li, was published in The Media and January 6th (link).
Policy Feedback Effects
I also have multiple projects that examine the intended and unintended consequences of local, state, and federal policies on the lives of ordinary citizens
In the Shadow of Sunshine Laws
Open Meeting Laws and Administrative Burdens
In a standalone chapter that draws from my dissertation, I specify how open meeting laws impose administrative burdens on the public and inadvertently thwart citizen participation in governance.
This chapter is published in Democracy, Governance, and Law (link).
Pandemic Housing
The Role of Landlords, Social Networks, and Social Policy in Mitigating Housing Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This article shows how federal and state COVID-19 relief efforts failed to improve long-term housing insecurity among low-income renters.
This article, coauthored with Max Besbris, Eva Rosen, and Brian McCabe was published in RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences (link).
