Conversations Across Borders: A Workshop in Transnational Studies

Date: 

Monday, September 12, 2016, 4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Room 1550

"First Organizing and Planning Meeting for Transnational Studies Initiative (TSI) and Politics and Social Change (PSC) Workshop, 2016-2017”

Chairs:

Peggy Levitt, Associate. Chair; Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Wellesley College; Co-Director of TSI, Weatherhead Center, Harvard University.

Jocelyn Viterna, Faculty Associate. Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Harvard University; Co-Director of TSI, Weatherhead Center, Harvard University.

"More Fair, More Contentious: Unintended Consequences of Formalization in China”

Speaker:

Fangsheng Zhu, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, Harvard University.

Discussant:

Irene Pang, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, Brown University.

Contact:

John Arroyo
arroyojc@mit.edu

Chairs:

Peggy Levitt, Associate. Chair; Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Wellesley College; Co-Director of TSI, Weatherhead Center, Harvard University.

Jocelyn Viterna, Faculty Associate. Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Harvard University; Co-Director of TSI, Weatherhead Center, Harvard University.

Abstract (planning meeting):

The first organizing and planning meeting for people who might be interested in participating in a small, informal joint working group this year. The TSI will be joining forces with the new "Politics and Social Change" (PSC) Workshop hosted by Harvard's Sociology Department. In addition to the topics that we normally cover, we will broaden our scope to include political sociology, political economy, development, development organizations/institutions, political organizations/institutions, social movements, policy, public opinion, culture, gender politics, race politics, transnational politics, climate politics, etc. We will continue to have a working group/workshop space where participants can present and get feedback on their own works-in-progress (anything from a fully drafted paper to an idea they are interested in working on). Unlike previous years where we met monthly, this year we will meet twice a week to accommodate students presentations from both the PSC Workshop and the TSI community. We will also be hosting at least 3 formal speakers. Please feel welcome to attend and spread the word to any new fellows, students, or faculty members who are visiting the area this year who might want to join us. Our agenda on 9/12 will be to discuss a format and schedule that would work best. The second hour will include a presentation. Please email arroyojc AT mit.edu for a copy of the working paper.

Abstract (Zhu):

Social psychology has found extensive evidence for the “fair process effect”, linking increased fairness perception to decreased contention. This article attempts to add a situational link in addition to the social psychological link between fairness perception and action. It theorizes that the institutions salient in the situation determine which fairness frames and action strategies people invoke. Accordingly, the social psychological “fair process effect” may not hold when institutions change. This article examines a case of migrant children’s school admissions in County W, China. In this case, a transition from informal rule to formal rule increased both fairness perception and contention. Analyzing interview and field observation data, I first describe the fairness frames and action strategies invoked in the two situations, and link them to respective institutions. Then, I explain the increase of fairness perception and contention by changing salience of institutions in each situation. Specifically, the abundance or lack of fairness frames across institutions account for the increase in fairness perception, and the situational circumstances determined by institutions account for the increase of contention.