Profile
Robin Wagner-Pacifici is a University Professor Emerita affiliated with the Department of at 鶹ýɫƬ for Social Research. She is the author of a number of books, most recently (University of Chicago Press, 2017) and .
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Degrees Held
BA 1976, Brown University
PhD 1983, University of Pennsylvania
Recent Publications
BOOKS:
, The University of Chicago Press, 2017
, The University of Chicago Press, 2005.
- Honorable Mention, 2006 Culture Section of the American Sociological Association, Best Book Award
- Author-Meets-Critics Session, American Sociological Association 2007 Annual Meeting
- Meet the Author Session, European Sociological Association 2007 Annual Meeting
, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Winner, 2001 Culture Section of the American Sociological Association Best Book Award
Discourse and Destruction: The City of Philadelphia Versus MOVE. The University of Chicago Press, 1994.
The Moro Morality Play: Terrorism as Social Drama. The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
BOOK CHAPTERS:
“Templates of Eventful Action in Social Networks” (with Ronald Breiger) solicited chapter for The Handbook of Culture and Social Networks, Edward Elgar Press, Eds. Nick Crossley and Paul Widdop. Forthcoming, 2024.
“Social Networks and Social Categories,” (with Ronald Breiger) solicited for Sage Handbook of Social Network Analysis (Second Edition), Eds. John McLevey, Peter J. Carrington, and John Scott. October, 2023.
“Redefinire la memoria come evento: dai passati controversi agli “eventi inquieti,” in Sociologia della memoria: verso un’ecologia del passato, Eds. Anna Lisa Tota, Lia Luchetti, Trever Hagen, Carocci editore, 2018.
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
“Cold War by Default” Invited comments on Special Issue on “What Was the Cold War,” Social Science History Edited by Ioana Sendroiu and Mitchell Stevens, Forthcoming 2025.
“Anti-Charismatic Authority: Joe Biden’s Approximation of the Ideal Type,” Politics and Society, Vol. 52, Issue 2, 2024. First published online: 2023 .
“Climate Change as an Event” (co-authored with Iddo Tavory) for Special Issue on “Toward a Cultural Sociology of Disasters,” Poetics, Vol. 93, Part A, August 2022.
“Habermas au Starbucks: Clients, oisifs et traînards dans le tiers-lieu capitaliste” solicited article for Special Issue on “Les espaces publics et leurs indésirables: interactions, institutions, politiques,” Politiques sociales, (N.1-2) 2021, 27-53.
“What is an Event and Are We in One?” solicited article for Special Issue on “Sociology After COVID-19: Critical Disaster Studies,” Sociologica, Volume 15, No. 1, May 2021.
"," (co-authored with E. Colin Ruggero) solicited article for Special Issue on “Time and Movement: Approaching Temporalities in Understanding Contention,” Social Movement Studies, May, 2018, DOI: 10.1080/14742837.2018.1474096
“,” (co-authored with Ronald Breiger and John Mohr) solicited article for Special Issue of Poetics, “Formalizing Culture” co-edited by Achim Edelmann and John Mohr, 68 (2018) 104-119.
“,” (co-authored with Iddo Tavory), solicited article for Special Issue on 2016 U.S. Presidential election, American Journal of Cultural Sociology, DOI 10.1057/s41290-017-0036-8, October 2017. Reprinted (Chapter 2) in Politics of Meaning/Meaning of Politics: Cultural Sociology of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, Eds. Jason L. Mast and Jeffrey C. Alexander, Palgrave MacMillan, 2018.
Co-Editor (co-authored with John Mohr and Ronald Breiger), Special Issue of Big Data and Society, “Conceiving the Social with Big Data: A Symposium of Social and Cultural Scientists,” Vol. 2 (2), December 2015 an Introductory Essay (co-authored with John Mohr and Ronald Breiger): “.”
“” (co-authored with John Mohr and Ronald Breiger), Big Data and Society, “Conceiving the Social with Big Data: A Symposium of Social and Cultural Scientists,” Vol. 2(2), December, 2015.
“,” co-authored with John W. Mohr, Ronald L. Breiger, and Petko Bogdanov , special issue: “Topic Modeling and Text Analysis: New Possibilities Linking Computer Scientists with Researchers in the Humanities and the Social Sciences,” Poetics: Journal of Empirical Research on Culture, the Media, and the Arts, December 2013.
“,” co-authored with Meredith Hall, Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 38, 2012.
“,” American Journal of Sociology, Volume 115:5 March, 2010.
“,” invited response essay, Sociological Forum, Volume 24, Issue 3 September, 2009.
“,” Special Issue of South Atlantic Quarterly, "Killing States: Lethal Decisions/Final Judgments." Edited by Austin Sarat and Jennifer Culbert, 107:3 Summer 2008.
Media
"" talk at 鶹ýɫƬ for Social Research, June 25, 2020.
Quoted in "," WVIK, May 11, 2020.
Featured in "," Research Matters, October 15, 2019.
Featured in "," Research Matters, April 6, 2017.
Research Interests
Political sociology, analysis of historical events and interstitial moments in social and political, and military contexts, sociology of culture. Methodological approaches include political semiosis, discourse analysis, hermeneutics.