Mabel Berezin
Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences in Sociology, Director of the Institute for European Studies
Overview
Mabel Berezin is a comparative sociologist whose work explores the intersection of political institutions and cultural meanings with an emphasis on challenges to democratic cohesion and solidarity in Europe and the United States. She is the author of Making the Fascist Self: The Political Culture of Interwar Italy which was awarded the J. David Greenstone Prize by the American Political Science Association and which Choice named an “Outstanding Academic Book of 1997;” Illiberal Politics in Neoliberal Times: Culture, Society and Populism in the New Europe; and co-editor with Martin Schain of Europe without Borders: Remapping Territory, Citizenship, and Identity in a Transnational Age.
Berezin’s research lies at the intersection of cultural and political sociology. In addition to numerous articles, review essays and contributions to edited volumes, she has edited four collaborative volumes: Democratic Culture: Ethnos and Demos in Global Perspective (with Jeffrey Alexander); an issue of Theory and Society (38 (4) 2009), entitled “Emotion and Rationality in Economic Life;” and an issue of Qualitative Sociology (37 (2) 2014), entitled Methods, Materials and Meanings: Designing Cultural Analysis.” She has Guest Edited with Michele Lamont, Alonzo Plough and Matthew Trujillo a Special Issue of Social, Science and Medicine (165 (September) 2016) on “Mutuality, Health Promotion and Collective Cultural Change.”
She has held fellowships from the European University Institute, the Leverhulme Trust, ASA Fund for Advancement of the Discipline and the German Marshall Fund. She is working on a monograph When Security Ends: the Crisis and Challenges to Democracy in Europe and Beyond that addresses the global resurgence of nationalism and the populist challenge to democratic practice.
Recent Courses
SOC 2480/GOVT 3633 Politics and Culture
SOC 4540/GOVT 4543 Fascism, Nationalism and Populism
SOC 6300 Interdisciplinary and Global Approaches to Culture
SOC 5020 Basic Problems in Sociology II
SOC 6840 New Approaches to Qualitative Methods
Research Focus
- Social and Cultural Appeal of Fringe Parties in France and Italy as a Response to Europeanization
- Comparative Historical Study of Institution Building, Citizenship and Social Capital in Early 20th Century United States and Europe
- Role of Emotions in Macrosociological Systems (i.e., Politics, Economics)
Publications
Articles:
Populism Papers: A curated list of articles
2020 “The Absence of the Ordinary in 2020 Presidential Politics: What Politicians Communicate.” Sociological Forum: June 2020, Vol 35, pp. 830-838.
2020 “Culture in Politics and Politics in Culture: Institutions, Practices and Boundaires.” Pp. 102-31 in The New Handbook of Political Sociology, eds. Thomas Janoski, Cedric de Leon, Joya Misra, and Isaac William Martin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Co-authored with Emily Sandusky and Thomas Davidson].
2019 Fascism and Populism: Are They Useful Categories for Comparative Sociological Analysis? Annual Review of Sociology: July 2019, Vol 45, pp. 345-361.
Media:
2021 Political Ineptitude Tempered Trump’s Fascist Behavior, Article in The Nation, Link to PDF here.
2021. Chaos on Capitol Hill: Part 1, Part 2 Interview in Al Jazeera.
2016 “It’s time to admit it: We’re all afraid of terrorism” Comment on attacks in Nice and political emotion published in Salon.
Recent talks:
Panelist. “The 2020 Election: A Cultural Post-Mortem”
Culture and Contemporary Life Series, hosted by the Sociology of Culture Section of American Sociological Association (December 2020). Click here to watch.
Plenary Session. “The Rise of National Populism in the West: Causes and Consequences.”
Invited Session. Missing Voices, Missing Issues in the 2020 Election, “The Absence of the Ordinary.”
Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (February 28, 2020)
In the news
- A&S honors 23 faculty with endowed professorships
- May Day strikes: French far-right gains ground as working people's party
- Klarman Fellow: How do past events affect political present?
- Fear of election violence highlights how political landscape has changed
- Fascism expert: Italy is next in the European nationalist movement, here is why.
- Despite election loss, Marine Le Pen influence in France to continue
- Surprise, no surprise: round 1 of the French presidential election
- Marine Le Pen to ‘win’ French election, even if she loses
- In shadow of Ukraine war, EU elections face critical moment
- Experts: Ukraine war puts world in ‘uncharted territory’
- What to read in 2022? A&S faculty weigh in
- Einaudi welcomes new program directors and opportunities
- Germany election a ‘spectacular result’ for far-right party
- Biden’s inaugural ‘theater of unity’ offers rebuke to violence
- By playing down illness, Trump engages in 'political theater'
- Cornell experts probe threats to democracy from COVID-19
- Global democratic challenges due to pandemic examined in webinar
- Panel considers role of the press in a time of lies
- European populists don’t need Donald Trump, but they like his support
- Panel reflects on Watergate and ‘Russiagate’
- Faculty weigh in on 'Tyranny' book at community read
- Faculty host community read, discussion: 'On Tyranny'
- Cornellians to share breaking sociology research in Seattle
Education
Ph.D. 1987 Harvard University