Sarah Sobieraj
Biographic Data
| ID | 201467 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah Sobieraj |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah |
| FAMILY NAME | Sobieraj |
| SIGNATURE | SOBIERAJ S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tufts University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1133-2962 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 296 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Ask a Feminist: Online Abuse and US Politics, a Conversation with Moya Bailey, Nina Jankowicz, and Sarah Sobieraj
Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jasmine Crockett. When women step into the political spotlight, they’re often met with a barrage of gendered and racialized attacks. And while there have always been hecklers, the evolution of information and communication technologies has changed the game. What does this landscape of identity-based abuse and harassment look like? What impact does it have in general? In…
The Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology
Digital media are normal. But this was not always true. For a long time, lay discourse, academic exhortations, pop culture narratives, and advocacy groups constructed new information and communications technologies as exceptional. Whether they were believed to be revolutionary, dangerous, rife with opportunity, or otherworldly, these tools and technologies were framed as extraordinary. But digital media are now mundane, thoroughly embedded—and of…
Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology
Credible Threat: Attacks Against Women Online and the Future of Democracy
This book argues that the rampant hate-filled attacks against women online are best understood as patterned resistance to women’s political voice and visibility. This abuse and harassment coalesces into an often-unrecognized form of gender inequality that constrains women’s use of digital public spaces, much as the pervasive threat of sexual intimidation and violence constrain women’s freedom and comfort in physical public spaces. What’s more, th…
Politicians, Social Media, and Digital Publics: Old Rights, New Terrain
In this interdisciplinary roundtable discussion, five scholars interested in political communication work through the democratic dilemmas created when privately owned social media platforms are used as digital public squares by elected officials in the United States. This conversation unfolds in the context of ongoing legal cases that challenge politicians' efforts to block select interlocutors and bar them from participation. We grapple with the…
Audiences in social context: Bridging the divides between political communications and social movements scholarship
As a media sociologist interested in political voice, visibility, and change, I am increasingly drawn to and in conversation with scholarship on political communication, a rich body of work that is
A Crisis of Civility: Political Discourse and Its Discontents
The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for many Americans. Political incivility is not merely a problem for political elites; political conversations between American citizens have also become more difficult and tense. The 2016 presidential elections featured campaign rhetoric designed to inflame the general public. Yet the 2016 election was certainly not the only cause of incivility among citize…
Bitch, slut, skank, cunt: Patterned resistance to women’s visibility in digital publics
Resistance to women’s public voice and visibility via street harassment and workplace sexual harassment have long constrained women’s use of and comfort in physical public spaces; this gender-based resistance now extends into digital arenas. Women face extreme hostility in the form of digital sexism in discussion rooms, comment sections, gaming communities, and on social media platforms. Reflecting on two years of in-depth interviews with women w…
Outrageous political opinion and political anxiety in the US
From Incivility to Outrage: Political Discourse in Blogs, Talk Radio, and Cable News
Most research on incivility in American politics focuses on its effects on citizens' political attitudes and behaviors, in spite of remarkably little data on the extent to which political discourse is actually uncivil. Those studies that do examine content focus on negative campaign advertisements, overlooking more egregious forms of political incivility that penetrate the broader media landscape. In this study, we attempt to conceptualize and me…
Understanding the Rise of Talk Radio
The number of radio stations airing political talk shows—predominantly conservative talk radio—has surged in the past few years. This massive change in the radio industry says something about the demand for such shows, but attributing the rise of talk radio to a corresponding rise in conservative popular opinion is misleading. We argue that this remarkable growth is better explained by the collision of two changes that have transformed the radio …
Reporting Conventions: Journalists, Activists, and the Thorny Struggle for Political Visibility
This article draws upon 134 in-depth interviews with activists and journalists in an effort to reconcile the extensive activism taking place in the shadows of presidential campaigns with its near invisibility in the news. In his classic work, Todd Gitlin (1980) demonstrated that activists become newsworthy only by submitting to the "implicit rules of news making" (p. 3). This research supports his finding, but demonstrates that unbeknownst to act…
Narrative and Legitimacy: U.S. Congressional Debates about the Nonprofit Sector
This article develops a theory about the narrative foundations of public policy. Politicians draw on specific types of narratives in order to connect the policies they are proposing, the needs of the public, and their own needs for legitimacy. In particular, politicians are drawn to policy narratives in which they themselves occupy the central and heroic character position, and where they are able to protect the scope of their jurisdictional auth…
The Implications of Transitions in the Voluntary Sector for Civic Engagement: A Case Study of Association Mobilization around the 2000 Presidential Campaign
This article reviews the prominent historical changes in American associational life (increasingly diffuse organizational attachments, professionalization of the voluntary sector, and the proliferation of “mailing-list” citizen groups), and turns to cross-sectional data on contemporary voluntary associations and their activities during the key campaign events of the 2000 presidential election to evaluate the impact of these changes on association…
Taxing Political Life: Reevaluating the Relationship between Voluntary Association Membership, Political Engagement, and the State
Previous research has shown that participation in voluntary associations, including those labeled nonpolitical, increases political participation. Using data gathered from 2,517 interviews for the American Citizen Participation Study, we complicate this understanding by exploring the relationship between voluntary association involvement and political activity in a more nuanced manner–separating association involvements according to the level of …
Elite Interlocks in Three U.S. Sectors: Nonprofit, Corporate, and Government
This study traces elite interlocks between the economic, political, and civil sectors of the United States in the late 1990s. We assess integration and fragmentation through analyzing patterns of overlap and interaction among influential organizations and leaders in these sectors. Network analyses are conducted with UCINET 5 on the Elite Directors Database, a new data set composed of the directors/trustees for the largest organizations in the bus…
Confronting the Social Context of the Classroom: Media Events, Shared Cultural Experience, and Student Response
Sarah Sobieraj, Heather Laube, Confronting the Social Context of the Classroom: Media Events, Shared Cultural Experience, and Student Response, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 2001), pp. 463-470
From Incivility to Outrage: Political Discourse in Blogs, Talk Radio, and Cable News
Most research on incivility in American politics focuses on its effects on citizens' political attitudes and behaviors, in spite of remarkably little data on the extent to which political discourse is actually uncivil. Those studies that do examine content focus on negative campaign advertisements, overlooking more egregious forms of political incivility that penetrate the broader media landscape. In this study, we attempt to conceptualize and me…
Narrative and Legitimacy: U.S. Congressional Debates about the Nonprofit Sector
This article develops a theory about the narrative foundations of public policy. Politicians draw on specific types of narratives in order to connect the policies they are proposing, the needs of the public, and their own needs for legitimacy. In particular, politicians are drawn to policy narratives in which they themselves occupy the central and heroic character position, and where they are able to protect the scope of their jurisdictional auth…
Elite Interlocks in Three U.S. Sectors: Nonprofit, Corporate, and Government
This study traces elite interlocks between the economic, political, and civil sectors of the United States in the late 1990s. We assess integration and fragmentation through analyzing patterns of overlap and interaction among influential organizations and leaders in these sectors. Network analyses are conducted with UCINET 5 on the Elite Directors Database, a new data set composed of the directors/trustees for the largest organizations in the bus…
A Crisis of Civility: Political Discourse and Its Discontents
The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for many Americans. Political incivility is not merely a problem for political elites; political conversations between American citizens have also become more difficult and tense. The 2016 presidential elections featured campaign rhetoric designed to inflame the general public. Yet the 2016 election was certainly not the only cause of incivility among citize…
Taxing Political Life: Reevaluating the Relationship between Voluntary Association Membership, Political Engagement, and the State
Previous research has shown that participation in voluntary associations, including those labeled nonpolitical, increases political participation. Using data gathered from 2,517 interviews for the American Citizen Participation Study, we complicate this understanding by exploring the relationship between voluntary association involvement and political activity in a more nuanced manner–separating association involvements according to the level of …
Reporting Conventions: Journalists, Activists, and the Thorny Struggle for Political Visibility
This article draws upon 134 in-depth interviews with activists and journalists in an effort to reconcile the extensive activism taking place in the shadows of presidential campaigns with its near invisibility in the news. In his classic work, Todd Gitlin (1980) demonstrated that activists become newsworthy only by submitting to the "implicit rules of news making" (p. 3). This research supports his finding, but demonstrates that unbeknownst to act…
Politicians, Social Media, and Digital Publics: Old Rights, New Terrain
In this interdisciplinary roundtable discussion, five scholars interested in political communication work through the democratic dilemmas created when privately owned social media platforms are used as digital public squares by elected officials in the United States. This conversation unfolds in the context of ongoing legal cases that challenge politicians' efforts to block select interlocutors and bar them from participation. We grapple with the…
Outrageous political opinion and political anxiety in the US
Understanding the Rise of Talk Radio
The number of radio stations airing political talk shows—predominantly conservative talk radio—has surged in the past few years. This massive change in the radio industry says something about the demand for such shows, but attributing the rise of talk radio to a corresponding rise in conservative popular opinion is misleading. We argue that this remarkable growth is better explained by the collision of two changes that have transformed the radio …
The Implications of Transitions in the Voluntary Sector for Civic Engagement: A Case Study of Association Mobilization around the 2000 Presidential Campaign
This article reviews the prominent historical changes in American associational life (increasingly diffuse organizational attachments, professionalization of the voluntary sector, and the proliferation of “mailing-list” citizen groups), and turns to cross-sectional data on contemporary voluntary associations and their activities during the key campaign events of the 2000 presidential election to evaluate the impact of these changes on association…
Confronting the Social Context of the Classroom: Media Events, Shared Cultural Experience, and Student Response
Sarah Sobieraj, Heather Laube, Confronting the Social Context of the Classroom: Media Events, Shared Cultural Experience, and Student Response, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 2001), pp. 463-470
Confronting the Social Context of the Classroom: Media Events, Shared Cultural Experience, and Student Response
Sarah Sobieraj, Heather Laube, Confronting the Social Context of the Classroom: Media Events, Shared Cultural Experience, and Student Response, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 2001), pp. 463-470
Elite Interlocks in Three U.S. Sectors: Nonprofit, Corporate, and Government
This study traces elite interlocks between the economic, political, and civil sectors of the United States in the late 1990s. We assess integration and fragmentation through analyzing patterns of overlap and interaction among influential organizations and leaders in these sectors. Network analyses are conducted with UCINET 5 on the Elite Directors Database, a new data set composed of the directors/trustees for the largest organizations in the bus…
Taxing Political Life: Reevaluating the Relationship between Voluntary Association Membership, Political Engagement, and the State
Previous research has shown that participation in voluntary associations, including those labeled nonpolitical, increases political participation. Using data gathered from 2,517 interviews for the American Citizen Participation Study, we complicate this understanding by exploring the relationship between voluntary association involvement and political activity in a more nuanced manner–separating association involvements according to the level of …
The Implications of Transitions in the Voluntary Sector for Civic Engagement: A Case Study of Association Mobilization around the 2000 Presidential Campaign
This article reviews the prominent historical changes in American associational life (increasingly diffuse organizational attachments, professionalization of the voluntary sector, and the proliferation of “mailing-list” citizen groups), and turns to cross-sectional data on contemporary voluntary associations and their activities during the key campaign events of the 2000 presidential election to evaluate the impact of these changes on association…
Narrative and Legitimacy: U.S. Congressional Debates about the Nonprofit Sector
This article develops a theory about the narrative foundations of public policy. Politicians draw on specific types of narratives in order to connect the policies they are proposing, the needs of the public, and their own needs for legitimacy. In particular, politicians are drawn to policy narratives in which they themselves occupy the central and heroic character position, and where they are able to protect the scope of their jurisdictional auth…
Reporting Conventions: Journalists, Activists, and the Thorny Struggle for Political Visibility
This article draws upon 134 in-depth interviews with activists and journalists in an effort to reconcile the extensive activism taking place in the shadows of presidential campaigns with its near invisibility in the news. In his classic work, Todd Gitlin (1980) demonstrated that activists become newsworthy only by submitting to the "implicit rules of news making" (p. 3). This research supports his finding, but demonstrates that unbeknownst to act…
From Incivility to Outrage: Political Discourse in Blogs, Talk Radio, and Cable News
Most research on incivility in American politics focuses on its effects on citizens' political attitudes and behaviors, in spite of remarkably little data on the extent to which political discourse is actually uncivil. Those studies that do examine content focus on negative campaign advertisements, overlooking more egregious forms of political incivility that penetrate the broader media landscape. In this study, we attempt to conceptualize and me…
Understanding the Rise of Talk Radio
The number of radio stations airing political talk shows—predominantly conservative talk radio—has surged in the past few years. This massive change in the radio industry says something about the demand for such shows, but attributing the rise of talk radio to a corresponding rise in conservative popular opinion is misleading. We argue that this remarkable growth is better explained by the collision of two changes that have transformed the radio …
Outrageous political opinion and political anxiety in the US
Bitch, slut, skank, cunt: Patterned resistance to women’s visibility in digital publics
Resistance to women’s public voice and visibility via street harassment and workplace sexual harassment have long constrained women’s use of and comfort in physical public spaces; this gender-based resistance now extends into digital arenas. Women face extreme hostility in the form of digital sexism in discussion rooms, comment sections, gaming communities, and on social media platforms. Reflecting on two years of in-depth interviews with women w…
Audiences in social context: Bridging the divides between political communications and social movements scholarship
As a media sociologist interested in political voice, visibility, and change, I am increasingly drawn to and in conversation with scholarship on political communication, a rich body of work that is
A Crisis of Civility: Political Discourse and Its Discontents
The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for many Americans. Political incivility is not merely a problem for political elites; political conversations between American citizens have also become more difficult and tense. The 2016 presidential elections featured campaign rhetoric designed to inflame the general public. Yet the 2016 election was certainly not the only cause of incivility among citize…
Credible Threat: Attacks Against Women Online and the Future of Democracy
This book argues that the rampant hate-filled attacks against women online are best understood as patterned resistance to women’s political voice and visibility. This abuse and harassment coalesces into an often-unrecognized form of gender inequality that constrains women’s use of digital public spaces, much as the pervasive threat of sexual intimidation and violence constrain women’s freedom and comfort in physical public spaces. What’s more, th…
Politicians, Social Media, and Digital Publics: Old Rights, New Terrain
In this interdisciplinary roundtable discussion, five scholars interested in political communication work through the democratic dilemmas created when privately owned social media platforms are used as digital public squares by elected officials in the United States. This conversation unfolds in the context of ongoing legal cases that challenge politicians' efforts to block select interlocutors and bar them from participation. We grapple with the…
The Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology
Digital media are normal. But this was not always true. For a long time, lay discourse, academic exhortations, pop culture narratives, and advocacy groups constructed new information and communications technologies as exceptional. Whether they were believed to be revolutionary, dangerous, rife with opportunity, or otherworldly, these tools and technologies were framed as extraordinary. But digital media are now mundane, thoroughly embedded—and of…
Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology
Ask a Feminist: Online Abuse and US Politics, a Conversation with Moya Bailey, Nina Jankowicz, and Sarah Sobieraj
Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jasmine Crockett. When women step into the political spotlight, they’re often met with a barrage of gendered and racialized attacks. And while there have always been hecklers, the evolution of information and communication technologies has changed the game. What does this landscape of identity-based abuse and harassment look like? What impact does it have in general? In…
Political science (14 works) · Politics (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Public relations (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Social Media and Politics (8 works) · Media studies (6 works) · Media Studies and Communication (6 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (4 works)