Category: Announcements

New Publication: “The Ghost of Middle Management: Automation, Control, and Heterarchy in the Platform Firm” by Janet A. Vertesi & Diana Enriquez 

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Vertesi, Janet A., and Diana Enriquez. 2025. “The Ghost of Middle Management: Automation, Control, and Heterarchy in the Platform Firm.” Sociologica 19(1):13–35. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/16415.

Abstract: In an effort to attend to the distinct organizational form of algorithmic management, we interrogate the arrangement of platform labor through the lens of the post-bureaucratic organization instead of that of the industrialized factory. Prior studies of gig workers rely heavily on sociological accounts of factory labor, but we posit that gig economy platforms represent a heterarchical organizational form, marrying the logics of industrial control induced by computational systems with the logics of post-bureaucracy inherited from flattening firms and downsizing middle management. In a technique we describe as automation by omission, we show how middle-managerial roles and responsibilities are excised entirely from the platform firm, how the vestigial traces of such roles are only imperfectly replaced by technical systems, and how “situated” managerial tasks essential to post-bureaucratic organizations are picked up by the worker, uncompensated. This heterarchical arrangement benefits the firm in multiple ways, while its competing structural conditions of labor leave workers to navigate multiple valuation systems at once. Appreciating gig work’s embedded post-bureaucracy shifts our understanding of common worker experiences such as peer-to-peer organizing and just-in-time scheduling illuminates dissonant accounts of empowerment and algorithmic despotism, and exposes new avenues for worker disenfranchisement.

Janet A. Vertesi Department of Sociology, Princeton University
Janet A. Vertesi is Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Director of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education at Princeton University (USA). A sociologist of science, technology, and organizations, her ethnographies of NASA missions include Shaping Science (Chicago University Press, 2015) and Seeing Like a Rover (Chicago University Press, 2020), and she is a leader in the digitalSTS (Princeton University Press, 2014) community.

Diana Enriquez  Department of Sociology, Princeton University
Diana Enriquez completed her PhD in Sociology at Princeton University (USA). Her dissertation research focused on high-skill freelancers as a subset of the alternative workforce facing new challenges before and during COVID-19. Other research projects examine the role of platforms in managing gig workers and automation in the workplace. Her research interests include economic sociology, labor, law, and technology.

New Publication: “Location Matters: Everyday Gender Discrimination in Remote and On-Site Work” by Laura Doering & András Tilcsik

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Doering, Laura, and András Tilcsik. 2025. “Location Matters: Everyday Gender Discrimination in Remote and On-Site Work.” Organization Science 36(2):547–71. doi: 10.1287/orsc.2022.16949.

Read Article: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.16949

Abstract: Remote work has dramatically transformed professional environments, sparking considerable scholarly interest in its impact on employees and organizations. Contributing to this burgeoning literature, we investigate how remote versus on-site work affects women’s experiences of gender discrimination. Given that work location can alter the gendered nature of interactions, we focus on everyday gender discrimination: slights and offenses that occur in interactions and are perceived by recipients as reflecting gender bias. Integrating gender frame theory and scholarship on virtual work, we argue that the gender frame tends to be less salient in remote settings. Thus, we predict that women experience less everyday gender discrimination when working remotely than on-site. Moreover, because the gender frame is likely to be more salient during on-site work for younger women and those who work with mostly men, we expect that these women experience a particularly pronounced reduction in everyday gender discrimination when working remotely. To test these predictions, we developed a new measure of everyday gender discrimination and conducted an original survey of 1,091 professional women who work in the same job both remotely and on-site. We find that women consistently report less everyday gender discrimination in remote versus on-site work. This effect is particularly pronounced for younger women and those who interact mainly with men. Overall, this study advances research on how work location shapes workers’ outcomes and experiences, enriches the literature on the trade-offs women face in virtual and on-site settings, and extends scholarship on the contextual factors shaping workplace discrimination.

Announcement: The Work and Family Researchers Network Conference will be held June 17-20, 2026, at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada

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The next Work and Family Researchers Network Conference will be held June 17-20, 2026, at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

The conference theme is Centering Care Across the Life Course. More than 500 stakeholders in the work-family field are anticipated to attend, and the dynamic program will focus on meaningful exchanges.

Submissions open in July and close November 1, 2025.

More information can be found at https://wfrn.org/2026-work-and-family-researchers-network-conference/.

Announcement: May 12 Virtual Session on Anti-Corporate Activism in the Shadow of Trumpism

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Anti-Corporate Activism in the Shadow of Trumpism


The Trump administration’s rapid moves on immigration, climate change, DEI, international development, and other issues have provoked a range of responses by corporations. Many corporations have abandoned previous commitments to curry favor with the Administration. Some firms—from Target to Tesla—have faced backlashes and boycotts from activists and consumers, pushing them to rethink their strategies. What forms are these new struggles over corporate power taking? What are their likely consequences?  In this webinar, organized by the Corporate Accountability Network, experts on business and activism will shed light on how companies and social movements are responding to these unprecedented times.


Monday, May 12, 12 pm – 1 pm Eastern time


Register here:  https://georgetown.zoom.us/meeting/register/ShiUFQqeRc6ImZVs6U56ag 


Panelists: Erin Lockwood, University of California, Irvine; Victor Ray, University of Iowa; Brayden King, Northwestern University; Maha Rafi Atal, University of Glasgow 


Moderator:  Tim Bartley, Georgetown University 


Organized by Maha Rafi Atal and Tim Bartley on behalf of the Corporate Accountability Network 

Call for Participants: Summer Workshop on Public Sector Organizational Effectiveness; Applications due May 15, 2025

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Summer Workshop on Public Sector Organizational Effectiveness, July 21-23, 2025 (see attached flyer)

At A Glance

·      Where: University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

·      Led By: Erin McDonnell (University of Notre Dame)

·      For: Advanced Graduate Students, Postdocs, & Assistant Professors

·      Apply at: https://tinyurl.com/effectivestates

·      Applications due: May 15, 2025

·      Decisions announced by: June 1, 2025

·      Questions? Contact effectivestatesworkshop@gmail.com

Public sector organizations are some of the most important organizations affecting the lives of millions of people around the globe, both as a source of employment and as a provider of thousands of programs affecting human wellbeing. From public hospitals to ministries of finance, court systems to education systems, public sector organizations are all around us, affecting life outcomes. Public sector organizations may be political or politicized, but they are also profoundly organizational. The PSEO summer workshop aims to consolidate existing research, foster interdisciplinary community, and address real-world challenges in public sector organizations. The workshop will include discussions, projects, organizational “hacks,” and opportunities for participants to workshop their own research.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The third annual summer workshop on Public Sector Organizational Effectiveness will take place from Monday, July 21 through Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN, USA). Fellowships will be awarded to cover event costs and room and board for selected applicants. The workshop is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

For additional details, please read the flyer.

New Publication: “The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy” by Jaime Lee Kucinskas

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The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy
by Jaime Lee Kucinskas 


Read an interview with the author about the research behind the book

Columbia University Press

Donald J. Trump took office threatening to run roughshod over democratic institutions, railing against the federal bureaucracy, and calling for dismantling the administrative state. How do civil servants respond to a presidential turn toward authoritarianism? In what ways—if any—can they restrain or counter leaders who defy the norms of liberal democratic governance?

The Loyalty Trap explores how civil servants navigated competing pressures and duties amid the chaos of the Trump administration, drawing on in-depth interviews with senior officials in the most contested agencies over the course of a tumultuous term. Jaime Lee Kucinskas argues that the professional culture and ethical obligations of the civil service stabilize the state in normal times but insufficiently prepare bureaucrats to cope with a president like Trump. Instead, federal employees became ensnared in intractable ethical traps, caught between their commitment to nonpartisan public service and the expectation of compliance with political directives. Kucinskas shares their quandaries, recounting attempts to preserve the integrity of government agencies, covert resistance, and a few bold acts of moral courage in the face of organizational decline and politicized leadership. A nuanced sociological account of the lessons of the Trump administration for democratic governance, The Loyalty Trap offers a timely and bracing portrait of the fragility of the American state.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jaime Lee Kucinskas is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Hamilton College. She is the author of The Mindful Elite: Mobilizing from the Inside Out (2019) and a co-editor of Situating Spirituality: Context, Practice, and Power (2022).

New Publication: “Gone Too Long or Back Too Soon? Perceptions of Paid Parental Leave‐Taking and Variations by Gender and Family Structure” by Richard J. Petts, Reilly Kincaid, Trenton D. Mize & Gayle Kaufman

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Petts, Richard J., Reilly Kincaid, Trenton D. Mize, and Gayle Kaufman. 2025. “Gone Too Long or Back Too Soon? Perceptions of Paid Parental Leave‐Taking and Variations by Gender and Family Structure.” Journal of Marriage and Family.

Abstract

Background: Previous research largely focuses on the consequences associated with leave-taking, particularly highlighting workplace penalties associated with leave-taking. There has also been limited attention to workers with diverse family forms. We seek to better understand the culture surrounding paid parental leave in the U.S. by focusing on evaluations of leave-taking itself and whether such evaluations may reduce or exacerbate inequalities by gender, sexual orientation, and marital status.

Method: We use data on 2964 U.S. respondents from a survey experiment in which employer-offered paid parental leave-taking, parent gender, sexual orientation, and marital status were randomly assigned. We use OLS models to assess perceptions of paid leave-taking and the causal effects of parent gender, sexual orientation, and marital status on these perceptions.

Results: We find that respondents view 11 weeks of paid parental leave as the right amount of leave, on average. We also find variations in perceptions of leave-taking by parent gender, sexual orientation, and marital status; mothers with husbands and single parents are viewed more favorably for taking longer leaves than fathers with wives, mothers with wives, and fathers with husbands.

Conclusion: There is increasing support for paid leave within the U.S., but support for parents’ leave-taking largely reflects gendered stereotypes and may reinforce broader patterns of gender inequality.

New Publication: “From Accountability to Algorithms: Interorganizational Learning and the Transformation of Quantification in Education” by Jose Eos Trinidad

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Trinidad, Jose Eos. 2025. “From Accountability to Algorithms: Interorganizational Learning and the Transformation of Quantification in Education.” Qualitative Sociology (online first).

Abstract: While studies often explore the intended and unintended consequences of technologies, few have theorized how and why they change. One crucial transformation in quantitative technologies is the shift from evaluative accountability to predictive algorithms, such as in schools that use dropout prediction systems. Using the case of ninth-grade early warning indicators, I argue that the transformation of quantification resulted from interorganizational learning, or the acquisition of new knowledge through the interaction of different organizations. In particular, I show how technology changes gradually from organization-level evaluation to individual-based prediction to systems-focused improvement. Pivotal to such changes were new forms of knowledge that emerged (1) as “instructing” organizations directed changes and “receiving” organizations resisted them; (2) as organizations in various fields reciprocally collaborated; and (3) as similar organizations practiced networked learning. Although studies have traditionally highlighted the “discipline” of technologies, I illustrate the power of organizational agents to resist, adapt, and change them—with implications for the study of quantification, work, institutional change, and education.

New Publication: “Subtle Webs: How Local Organizations Shape US Education” by Jose Eos Trinidad

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Trinidad, Jose Eos. 2025. Subtle Webs: How Local Organizations Shape US Education. Oxford University Press.

(30% off with code: AUFLY30)

Abstract: In Subtle Webs, Jose Eos Trinidad reveals how organizations outside schools have created an invisible infrastructure not only to affect local school districts but also to shape US education. He illustrates this by providing a behind-the-scenes look at how local organizations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City have transformed data and worked with high schools to address the problem of students dropping out. The book argues that changes in a decentralized system happen less through top-down policy mandates or bottom-up social movements and more through “outside-in” initiatives of networked organizations spread across various local systems. By detailing change across multiple levels and across multiple locations, Trinidad uncovers new ways to think about educational transformation, policy reform, and organizational change.

Announcement: Virtual Texas Book Salon for Kim Pernell’s “Visions of Financial Order”; Join via Zoom on April 16.

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Wednesday, April 16, 1-2pm Central

Zoom: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/96255280544

The Sociology Department at the University of Texas at Austin invites you to attend a virtual book salon to celebrate the publication of Professor Kim Pernell’s Visions of Financial Order (Princeton, 2024).  Discussants include Marion Fourcade, Greta Krippner, and Marc Schneiberg

“In Visions of Financial Order, Kim Pernell traces the emergence of important national differences in financial regulation in the decades leading up to the crisis. To do so, she examines the cases of the United States, Canada, and Spain—three countries that subscribed to the same transnational regulatory framework (the Basel Capital Accord) but developed different regulatory policies in areas that would directly affect bank performance during the financial crisis. … Pernell argues that the different worldviews of national banking regulators reflected cultural beliefs about the ideal way to organize economic life to promote order, stability, and prosperity. Visions of Financial Order offers an innovative perspective on the persistent differences between regulatory institutions and the ways they shaped the unfolding of the 2008 global financial crisis.” – Princeton University Press