Cultural Threat and Market Failure: Moral Decline Narratives on the Religious Right and Left

This chapter argues that religiopolitical movements on the right—Christian Nationalism—and left—Prophetic Progressivism—remain central to US politics because they deploy moral decline narratives that are rooted in religious symbols but appeal outside religious communities. On the right, a cultural threat narrative built on a white Christian epistemology casts nonwhite and non-Christian persons, ideas, and institutions as morally dubious outsiders and uses the threat they purportedly pose to justify increasingly aggressive policy initiatives and authoritarian moves. On the left, a market failure narrative links Social Gospel and civic republican traditions, fostering linking Black Church movements steeped in the Civil Rights Movement’s legacy with other organizing sectors. The continuing appeal of Christian Nationalism and Prophetic Progressivism demonstrates how religious ideas and practices blend with raced, gendered, and classed social narratives to create powerful moral narratives that can animate political action even as religious adherence declines overall. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. Part of the Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research book series (HSSR)

Effi cacy of CPTH-treated egg baits for removing ravens

Human-altered landscapes have provided resource subsidies for common ravens (Corvus corax) resulting in a substantial increase in raven abundance and distribution throughout the United States and Canada in the past 25 years. Ravens are effective predators of eggs and young of ground-nesting birds. During 2002–2005, we tested whether chicken egg baits treated with CPTH (3-chloro-p-toluidine hydrochloride) could be used to manage raven numbers in an area where raven depredation was impacting sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations in Nevada. We performed multiple raven surveys at a treatment site and 3 control sites and used videography to identify predators and estimate egg bait consumption. We detected reductions in raven abundances over time at the treatment site during all years of this study and did not detect reductions in raven abundances at control sites. Videographic observations of egg consumption indicated that the standard 1:2 ratio (1 raven removed/2 eggs consumed) substantially overestimated raven take because non-target species (rodents) consumed some egg baits. The technique described here likely will be effective at reducing raven densities where this is the intended management action

Militarization and police violence: The case of the 1033 program

Does increased militarization of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) lead to an increase in violent behavior among officers? We theorize that the receipt of military equipment increases multiple dimensions of LEA militarization (material, cultural, organizational, and operational) and that such increases lead to more violent behavior. The US Department of Defense 1033 program makes excess military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, available to local LEAs. The variation in the amount of transferred equipment allows us to probe the relationship between military transfers and police violence. We estimate a series of regressions that test the effect of 1033 transfers on three dependent variables meant to capture police violence: the number of civilian casualties; the change in the number of civilian casualties; and the number of dogs killed by police. We find a positive and statistically significant relationship between 1033 transfers and fatalities from officer-involved shootings across all models

Replication Data for: Militarization and Police Violence: The Case of the 1033 Program

Does increased militarization of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) lead to an increase in violent behavior among officers? We theorize that the receipt of military equipment increases multiple dimensions of LEA militarization (material, cultural, organizational, and operational) and that such increases lead to more violent behavior. The U.S. Department of Defense 1033 program makes excess military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, available to local LEAs. The variation in the amount of transferred equipment allows us to probe the relationship between military transfers and police violence. We estimate a series of regressions that test the effect of 1033 transfers on three dependent variables meant to capture police violence: the number of civilian casualties; the change in the number of civilian casualties; the number of dogs killed by police. We find a positive and statistically significant relationship between 1033 across all models

Sound by Artists

Editors Lexier and Lander present the anthology of the art of sound as an attempt to identify sound as an art practice and to highlight the non-visual aspects of perception. Includes 37 texts and a list of selected recorded works by the artists, biographical notes on the 35 contributors and an extensive bibliography (14 p.)