David Grazian begins his two-year term (January 1, 2026-December 31, 2028) as editor of Contexts having had experience as the magazine’s culture editor for two years, a strong record of editorial service across leading sociology journals, and a career dedicated to making scholarship legible to broad audiences. As professor of sociology and communication at the University of Pennsylvania, Grazian is a cultural sociologist and urban ethnographer whose work investigates how authenticity, performance, and meaning are produced in everyday life, from urban nightlife and blues clubs to co-working spaces and zoos. Grazian received his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in 1994 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2000.
His ethnographies, including Blue Chicago: The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs, On the Make: The Hustle of Urban Nightlife (University of Chicago Press 2005) and American Zoo: A Sociological Safari (Princeton University Press 2017), reveal how institutions of culture and leisure function as carefully staged performances that shape public understandings of race, class, gender, and nature. In addition, his widely used textbook, Mix It Up: Popular Culture, Mass Media, and Society (W. W. Norton & Company 2017), demonstrates his commitment to accessible and engaging sociology. Grazian’s expertise in ethnography, his focus on popular culture and urban life, and his long-standing dedication to public sociology uniquely position him to lead Contexts in bridging academic research and broad public conversation.
Editorial Experience and Service to the Discipline
Grazian brings deep editorial experience and a well-established commitment to making sociology accessible. From 2008 to 2010, he served as culture editor of Contexts, during which time he commissioned and published widely read pieces on topics ranging from professional wrestling to Korean BBQ in Los Angeles. He has also served on the editorial boards of multiple sociology journals, including Contemporary Sociology, Social Psychology Quarterly, American Journal of Sociology, American Journal of Cultural Sociology, Poetics, Qualitative Sociology, and Sociological Forum. His editorial background spans both scholarly and public-facing venues, equipping him with a broad understanding of best practices for fostering rigorous and engaging sociological writing.
Within the discipline, Grazian has been recognized for his service to professional associations and for his contributions to scholarship that is both meaningful to academics and engaging to public audiences. In addition to his books and textbooks, Grazian has published extensively in top journals across sociology, cultural studies, and media studies.
A committed public sociologist, Grazian has consistently sought to write in a way that reaches audiences outside academia. His work has been reviewed and profiled in outlets such as the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, New Scientist, and Psychology Today. This dedication to accessible scholarship underscores his vision for Contexts as an outward-facing publication that connects sociology to pressing social issues for the broader public.
Vision for the Journal
Grazian envisions Contexts as a vital platform for connecting sociology to the public at a moment when truth, evidence, and expertise are under siege. He sees the journal as a place to promote compelling sociological research that addresses pressing issues like inequality, climate change, and political polarization, and illuminates the everyday interactions and cultural practices that shape social life. In an era defined by misinformation, partisan media echo chambers, and the rise of AI-generated “hallucinations,” Grazian emphasizes sociology’s unique capacity to provide a clear-eyed, empirically grounded antidote to a degraded marketplace of ideas.
Under his leadership, Contexts will continue to highlight the discipline’s breadth while ensuring that important areas of contemporary research receive greater visibility. In particular, Grazian hopes to strengthen the journal’s engagement with vital subfields that have historically struggled to find a home in sociology’s most widely read outlets, such as the sociology of climate change and environmental crises, and the study of media, technology, and popular culture in a digital age. Grazian believes that Contexts should serve as a resource for journalists, policymakers, educators, and other communicators who rely on accessible, well-researched social science to inform public debate. He also recognizes the critical role of inclusivity and is committed to cultivating a diverse editorial advisory board and a wide-ranging roster of contributors, reflecting the discipline’s intellectual, methodological, and demographic diversity.
With Contexts moving fully online in 2026, Grazian sees an opportunity to redesign the journal for a digital-first readership without sacrificing its substance or scholarly excellence. His vision is to create an engaging, content-rich platform that is welcoming and accessible to broad audiences while preserving the publication’s legacy as sociology’s outward-facing voice. In this way, Grazian hopes to ensure that Contexts remains both a trusted source for public knowledge and a vibrant home for the best of sociological inquiry.