Sociology in Boston and Massachusetts
Examples of research projects in the Boston and Massachusetts area:
Low-income women and girls in Boston
Habit of Hiding and Poverty Research
This is an ongoing exploration of the epistemological, practical, and ethical issues facing researchers who examine the lives of low-income and otherwise marginalized people. Focusing primarily on low-wage mothers and family survival strategies, the research explores practices of keeping secret the data of daily life in a context of longstanding stigma and immediate risks in disclosure.
Racial inequality and the educational testing regime in the Cambridge schools
Exploring students� educational experiences in a context of persistent racial inequality and growing testing demands
This research in the Boston metropolitan area involves listening to administrators , teachers, parents and students discuss the quality of students� educational experience to illuminate successes and limitations of our current educational system. The focus has turned in the direction of examining the statewide standardized testing system, MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System), mirroring schools� preoccupation with and pressure to demonstrate improved test performance. The analysis explores how testing demands have impacted students� experiences and the racialized processes of their intellectual and academic development.
Work with Honduran immigrants in Chelsea
There have been few studies of the specific role and function of the family in transnational processes. This research investigates how transnationalism works as a survival strategy in which families use the difference in living costs between Honduras and the United States to support household consumption. Drawing on data gathered in both Honduras the United States, Schmalzbauer looks specifically at the experience and prospects of transmigrant labor in the United States and Honduras, especially as they relate to the American Dream. The research focus is now on exploring the impacts of consumption on transnational family well-being.
Activism in Massachusetts: Peace and Justice Organizing
This project examines the challenges facing contemporary mobilizations for peace and social justice as they work across race, class, and gender. This work is a result of a two-year study that uncovered and interrogated hidden systems of privilege that prevent collective work across differences. Through participatory discussions with activists, this work has opened up a space for activists to reflect, dialogue and potentially transform their beliefs, practices, and identities.
The impact of consumer culture on urban and suburban children
Based on the pathbreaking book, Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (2004) by Juliet Schor, this ongoing project seeks to understand the impact of consumer involvement on school aged youth across race, gender, and class. Using the nearby urban and suburban school districts the research focuses on major questions including the impact of consumer culture on both psychological and physical well-being, educational and career aspirations, and self identity. These questions are also considered in a global context in order to understand the economic and ecological consequences of an expanding consumer sphere.