The 2024-25 CASBS Syllabus
Consider the past four years. Pretty intense, right? A still-disruptive and deadly public health pandemic precipitated economic crisis and served as a lens through which long-standing, persistent societal vulnerabilities and inequalities magnified. It also provided a backdrop upon which we have witnessed multiple, often interacting stressors and threats – some preexisting and others newly emerged – confronting governments and democratic institutions. Entrenched political polarization fueled by extremist nativism and populism. Police brutality and demands for racial justice. A bitterly contested 2020 election, disputed election integrity, insurrection, and now, another anxiety-inducing election. The spread of toxic misinformation, disinformation, deep fakes, and conspiracy theories. Deepening discord over both legal and illegal immigration. Protests, upheaval, and even violence on university campuses over armed conflicts abroad and humanitarian aid. Accelerating climate change and environmental catastrophes. Invasion of an allied democracy and renewed Cold War tensions. This list is by no means complete.
The myriad challenges present opportunities for scholars and scholarly institutions to help illuminate understandings, advance thinking, and inform policy discourses. CASBS is well-situated among prominent contributors in this space. In recent years, CASBS and those operating under its umbrella have produced content and presented programming from various cross-disciplinary perspectives and in numerous forms – episodes of its webcast series, Social Science for a World in Crisis; episodes of its podcast, Human Centered; events, articles, and interviews produced with partner organizations; and releases from the Center’s own multi-year research projects. In addition, during this period several relevant books have been written or partially written by CASBS fellows while here in residence. Copies of those books reside in the Center’s renowned Ralph W. Tyler Collection.
In this CASBS content guide – think of it as a syllabus of sorts – we distill some of our rich programming and thought leadership into a small sampling that serves as an open access public learning resource. It is comprised of six curated themes – at times overlapping or intersecting and in no way immutable – that invoke problem and issue clusters that appear highly salient now, during the 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle, but no doubt will remain of critical importance in the coming years.
A = article | EV = event video | IV = interview video | P = podcast episode | W = webcast episode
b = current or former CASBS board member | d = former CASBS director
CASBS fellows are identified by their fellowship year in parentheses
I. Frailties of Polities and Political Institutions
Reforming Democratic Institutions and Practices W
James Fishkin (1987-88, 2001-02), Luis Fraga (1989-90), Martin Gilens (2015-16), Jane Mansbridge (1997-98, 2001-02)
Populist Challenges to Democracy A, EV
Eva Anduiza (2018-19), Bart Bonikowski (2018-19), Anna Grzymala-Busse 2021-22), Maya Tudor (2018-19)
Democracy’s Long Game: An Interview with Paul Starr A (in partnership with Public Books)
Paul DiMaggio (1984-85), Paul Starr (2014-15)
Democracies in an Age of Uncertainty: A Long-Term Perspective IV (in partnership with La Vie des Idées)
Helen Milner (2001-02, 2021-22), Daniel Treisman (2021-22)
America As a Developing Country? W
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllarb, Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, Barry Weingast (1993-94)
Books published since 2020 authored by CASBS fellows and entered into the Center’s Ralph W. Tyler Collection
Adam Berinsky (2009-10). Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It (Princeton Univ. Press, 2023).
Robert Inman (1992-93) and Daniel Rubinfeld (1992-93). Democratic Federalism: The Economics, Politics, and Law of Federal Governance (Princeton Univ. Press, 2020).
II. Polarization, Contention, and Social Cohesion
Can We Rebuild Social Cohesion in the U.S.? W
Danielle Allen, David Brooks, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, Eric Klinenberg (2007-08, 2016-17), Robert Putnam (1974-75, 1988-89)
Deploying Behavioral Science on the Front Lines of Social Protest P
Eran Halperin (2022-23), Robb Willer (2012-13, 2020-21)
Polarization and Contentious Politics in the Age of Covid W
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllarb, Christian Davenport (2008-09), Rachel Kleinfeld (2015-16)
Movements & Contentious Politics P
Sidney Tarrow (1980-81, 1997-98), Edward Walker (2021-22)
Social Movements in Contentious Times P
Kim Williams (2018-19)
III. Race, Identity, and Intergroup Relations
Reflections on American Race Relations in the Age of Donald Trump A, EV (in partnership with Sage)
William Julius Wilson (1981-82)
America’s Black-White Divide: Looking Back, Looking Around, Looking Forward W
Lawrence Bobo (1988-89, 2007-08), Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2007-08), Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, Claude Steele (1994-95)d
Race and the Movement for Justice in America W
Xavier de Souza Briggsb, Clayborne Carson (1993-94), Douglas McAdam (1991-92, 1997-98)d, Brenda Stevenson (2016-17)
The Persistence of Racial Inequality W
Joshua Cohen, Francis Fukuyama, Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, Glenn Loury (2015-16), Alondra Nelson
American Democracy and the Challenge of Identity Pluralism IV (in partnership with La Vie des Idées)
Hakeem Jefferson (2021-22)
The Mythology of Racial Progress A, EV (in partnership with Sage)
Jennifer Richeson (2021-22)
From Slavery to Police Torture IV (in partnership with La Vie des Idées)
Laurence Ralph (2021-22)
Related CASBS project
CASBS Launches New Training Institute on Diversity
IV. Societal Belonging, Inclusion, and Justice
Toward a Society of Shared Recognition P
Michèle Lamont (2002-03), Woody Powell (1986-87, 2008-09)d
Contesting the Nation A, EV
Kathleen Belew (2019-20), Jefferson Cowie (2019-20), Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, Catherine Ramírez (2019-20)
The Boundaries in Our Heads P
Cara Wong (2018-19)
What Does Assimilation Mean? A (in partnership with Public Books)
Catherine Ramírez (2019-20)
Car Creditocracy: An Interview with Julie Livingston & Andrew Ross A (in partnership with Public Books)
Chenjerai Kumanyika, Julie Livingston (2021-22), Andrew Ross
Books published since 2020, authored by CASBS fellows, and entered into the Center’s Ralph W. Tyler Collection
Arline Geronimus (2014-15). Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society (Little Brown Spark, 2023).
Jefferson Cowie (2019-20). Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power (Basic Books, 2022). Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in history
Julie Livingston (2021-22) and Andrew Ross. Cars and Jails: Freedom Dreams, Debt and Carcerality (OR Books, 2022).
Catherine Ramírez (2019-20), et al, eds. Precarity and Belonging: Labor, Migration, and Noncitizenship (Rutgers Univ. Press, 2021).
Ruth Milkman (2018-19). Immigrant Labor and the New Precariat (Polity Press, 2020).
Catherine Ramírez (2019-20). Assimilation: An Alternative History (Univ. of California Press, 2020).
V. Intersections of Technology and Democracy
AI, Automation, and Society A, EV
Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, John Markoff (2017-18), Arati Prabhakar (2017-18), Tenzin Priyadarshi (2017-18)
Social Science and Saving Democracy from the Internet P
Nathaniel Persily (2017-18)
Big Tech’s Rise to Political Power A (in partnership with La Vie des Idées)
Allison Stanger (2020-21)
Embracing Tech While Saving Democracy from It P
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2018-19)
Toward Cross-disciplinary Consensus About Our (Mis)Information Environment P
Angela Aristidou (2022-23), Philip Howard (2008-09)
The Pressing Need to Harness Emerging Technologies A (in partnership with La Vie des Idées)
James Guszca (2020-21)
Bridging Adaptive Algorithms and the Public Good P
Nathan Matias (2022-23)
Digital Media, the Public Sphere, and Democratic Governance EV
Mike Ananny (2018-19), Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2018-19), Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, Jacob Ward (2018-19)
Exposing Sources and Impacts of Election Disinformation Campaigns P
Young Mie Kim (2023-24)
Analyzing Social Media Influence P
Sandra González-Bailón (2019-20)
VI. Toward Thriving Lives and Livelihoods for All
Creating a New Political Economy Framework: Where Do We Go from Here? W
Elizabeth Anderson, Samuel Bowles, Sir Angus Deaton, Amy Kapczynski, Debra Satz (2017-18)
The Voices of Americans in Crisis W
James Fallows, Corey Fields, David Grusky (1991-92), Hazel Markus (1980-81, 1995-96, 2008-09)
Allison Pugh on Building a Society of Connection A (in partnership with Public Books)
Elizabeth Fetterolf, Allison Pugh (2016-17)
New Visions for Effective Worker Influence W
John Ahlquist (2017-18), Roy Bahat, Oren Cass, Veena Dubal (2022-23)
What Human Flourishing Looks Like W
Jenna Bednar (2021-22), Hilary Cottam, James Manyika, Gillian Tett
What Will Become of Work and Workers? W
Tara Behrend (2016-17), Louis Hyman (2015-16), John Irons, Margaret Levi (1993-94)d, Phyllis Moen (2015-16)
Understanding Diversity in STEM: How Can We Build a More Diverse and Dynamic STEM Workforce? W (in partnership with Sage)
Erin Cech, Mary Murphy (2015-16), Na'ilah Suad Nasir, Claude Steele (1994-95)d
The Humanity of Connective Labor P
Allison Pugh (2016-17), Mitchell Stevens
Related CASBS projects and their releases
CASBS Program Curates Issue of Dædalus on Creating a New Moral Political Economy
Teaching and Learning Repository for a Moral Political Economy
Collaboration with Pacific Standard on The Future of Work and Workers
The Social Science of Caregiving
New Book Advances Our Understanding of Gen Z
Collaboration with Pacific Standard on Understanding Gen Z
Books published since 2020, authored by CASBS fellows, and entered into the Center’s Ralph W. Tyler Collection
Allison Pugh (2016-17). The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World (Princeton Univ. Press, 2024).
Maureen Perry-Jenkins (2015-16). Work Matters: How Parents’ Jobs Shape Childrens’ Wel-Being (Princeton Univ. Press, 2022).
Phyllis Moen (2015-16). Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What We Can Do About It (Princeton Univ. Press, 2020).
Learn more about:
Social Science for a World in Crisis, the CASBS webcast series
Human Centered, the CASBS podcast
CASBS’s partnership with La Vie des Idées and its English language site, Books and Ideas
CASBS’s partnership with Public Books
CASBS’s multi-year programs past and present
All recent books entered into the Center’s Ralph W. Tyler Collection. Explore the entire collection.