Down and Out in New York City

A generation of sociological study and activism on homelessness—both in its measurement and in thinking about what to do about it—has influenced public debate and initiatives on combating homelessness in New York City over the past few years. In late 2005, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, responding to calls by advocates and service providers, announced a 10-year agreement with then-Governor George Pataki to finance and develop 9,000 new units of supportive housing—subsidized permanent housing with social services—for chronically homeless people and people living with disabilities. The key idea motivating Bloomberg was to reduce the reliance on temporary shelter and to expand the supply of cost-effective supportive housing, which is an idea that many sociologists have long advocated.

Eliza K. Pavalko has been selected to succeed Peggy Thoits as editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (JHSB), and her colleagues at Indiana University-Bloomington now have two reasons to congratulate her. At the Department’s annual award ceremony in April, Eliza was named the Allen D. and Polly S. Grimshaw Professor of Sociology.

Popular and commercial cultures have long been important sites of cultural con- flict, where ideas about social relations are persuasively embedded and in constant negotiation with critiques of such ideas. Academic discussions on popular culture started as soon as contemporary mass society formed itself, and the views on popular culture that were developed at that time still influence popular culture as propaganda and critique within contemporary America.