Please join us as we celebrate the publication of two books by our faculty members, Mark Mizruchi and Elizabeth Armstrong. UM faculty and sociology graduate students are invited to join us for a reception and light refreshments. Please contact Denise Yekulis (dyz@umich.edu, 734.764.6767) by Wednesday, May 1, noon to rsvp.
Professor Mizruchi's book, The Fracturing of the American Corporate Elite, published by Harvard University Press, poses the argument that American corporate CEOs, despite their increased power and wealth, have abandoned the key leadership role they previously played in addressing broad-ranging national challenges. This unwillingness to tackle the big issues helps to explain the polarization and gridlock that stifle U.S. politics.
Professor Armstrong's book, Paying for the Party (co-authored with Laura Hamilton), also published by Harvard University Press, draws on findings from a five-year interview study on the campus of “MU,” a flagship Midwestern public university. The authors follow a group of women drawn into a culture of status seeking and sororities. This “party pathway” anchored in the Greek system and facilitated by the administration. exerts influence over the academic and social experiences of all students,benefiting the affluent and well-connected, while seriously placing the majority at a disadvantage.
