UNC sociologists win awards for research

Arne Kalleberg
Arne Kalleberg

Sociology faculty members Arne Kalleberg and Christopher Bail have won awards from the American Sociological Association for their research.

Kalleberg, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology, won the 2013 ASA Best Book Award from the Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Section for Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s.

Kalleberg’s book provides an insightful analysis of how and why precarious employment is gaining ground in the labor market and the role these developments have played in the decline of the middle class.

The book won the 2012 George R. Terry Book Award from the Academy of Management.

Bail_Christopher
Christopher Bail

Assistant professor Bail won the 2013 ASA Best Paper Award from the Political Sociology Section for “The Fringe Effect: The Evolution of Media Discourse about Islam since the September 11th Attacks.” The paper was published in the American Sociological Review.

In the study Bail showed that organizations using fear and anger to spread negative messages about Muslims have moved from the fringes of public discourse into the mainstream media since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Read more about Kalleberg’s book here, and Bail’s study here.