Mahesh Somashekhar

A new study shows how racism and xenophobia can be baked into urban planning schemes: across the U.S., activists use parking concerns to stop mosques from being built in their communities. New mosques are 16-18% more likely to trigger opposition than new churches. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Excellent reporting by @almacampos.bsky.social on how ICE impacts Latino businesses in Little Village, Chicago. tl;dr: Owners are spooked, and gentrifiers are pressuring them to sell. I was happy to provide background for the article, which turned out great. chicago.suntimes.com/bearing-the-...

Evidence from Poland shows how authoritarian regimes harm small businesses. Forced to close on Sundays or go through hoops when hiring immigrants so that religious and political hardliners can be satisfied? It doesn't end well for small enterprises. www.persuasion.community/p/when-conse...

The Trump admin just proposed no longer counting immigrants without green cards in the 2030 census or asking about race and ethnicity. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u... PAA has an action center where you can help push back against proposals like these: www.populationassociation.org/government-a...

Residents of Gary, Indiana haven't had power for 12 days, and the state has been slow to help. This article links to various fundraisers you can contribute to so that these people get the help they need. blockclubchicago.org/2026/08/21/g...

According to a new analysis, ICE raids in Minneapolis caused a loss of over $100M in wages and a decline in the number of operating businesses of 1.7%. ICE's heavy-handed tactics cause destruction to local economies in addition to communities. www.upjohn.org/research-hig...

NEW in Social Forces @sfjournal.bsky.social coauthored by Jackie Hwang @stanford.edu, Elizabeth Roberto at Rice U., Francine Stephens at Stanford & me "Integrating or Segregating? Gentrification, the Changing City-suburb Divide, and Black Exceptionalism" academic.oup.com/sf/article-a...

At #ASA2026, I'm discussing why an attempt by the U.S. far right to create a financial ecosystem parallel to the mainstream failed. The far right hoped it would ensure money doesn't flow to banks and corporations that, to them, push a "woke" agenda. See you Sunday at 10am! @asanews.bsky.social

I wrote about how much Americans wagered on sports betting in 2025 and how it’s more than they spent on movies, art, museums and music combined. Read my article @fortunemagazine.bsky.social fortune.com/2026/07/26/g...

In a first, NW Chicago tenants are suing their landlord under a new anti-gentrification law requiring landlords to give tenants a chance to buy their building before it can be sold to another landlord. Laws like these are important. I'm glad they're getting used. blockclubchicago.org/2026/07/15/l...

Do you study geography and health? An upcoming free webinar will teach you how to integrate IPUMS healthcare data into your Python and R workflows. Details and registration information here: umn.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Folks local to Chicago! Want to help your neighbors during the heat wave this week? Volunteer to deliver water and portable fans to the elderly and disabled this Wednesday (July 1) through My Block My Hood My City. Details here: www.mobilize.us/m3/event/980...

Just out in @socialforcesfan.bsky.social some of our work comparing Elites in Brazil and South Africa! Using a small survey with random sample of CEOs, legislators, and top bureaucrats in both countries, we unpack the contradictory ways elite think about merit and taxation and redistrution.

Be careful out there! Conservatives are setting up progressive super PACs to trick people into donating to causes and candidates that might split the Democratic vote or ultimately support conservative candidates. For examples, see this Substack post: popular.info/p/two-progre...

danah boyd recently argued that social media (as we knew it) is mostly dead; what we have now is parasocial media: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... I agree. Networked social media is disappearing, replaced by a new logic/structure of content creator, creator-centered community, & algorithm.

A friend just turned me on to a podcast called "Know Your Enemy," which is about the past, present, and future of conservative thought. It is incredible, and I highly recommend it if you want to understand the philosophies guiding our current historical moment. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/k...

A new study shows that communities rich in “third places” like libraries, cafes, and bars can be especially resilient after a natural disaster, using this social infrastructure to support community redevelopment. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I've started reading Wodtke and Zhou's new book on causal mediation analysis and am finding it super clear and helpful. (We've come a long way from Baron and Kenny (1986).) The R package they created as part of the book is useful too. Highly recommend reading it! www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...

Yes. I’m sure the experts here didn’t do this. Probably because it’s nuts from a social science perspective?

Attending #ICUA and need a reason to wake up early? Come to my Thurs @ 8am session to hear how gentrification unfolds differently for organizations in cultural neighborhoods such as gayborhoods & ethnic enclaves. TL;DR: Gentrification can politicize rather than erase local orgs @uaanews.bsky.social

Right-wing populists are typically hostile to finance, but the far right is trying to create new financial markets so they can avoid giving money to big banks that support "woke" causes. Is it working? I'll answer on Wednesday 4/22 @ 12:30 in UChicago Sociology's colloquium series. Come to find out!

Which counties are cooperating with ICE? Unsurprisingly, it's pro-Trump counties. These counties also have fewer immigrants. This highlights another way that red & blue parts of the country are pulling away from each other, which has real consequences for immigrants www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Sure, the (non-healthcare) job market has lost steam, but a new report by @upjohninstitute.bsky.social shows that the returns to education still matter. Even in the current labor market, folks with a graduate or bachelor's degree are hired more quickly than others. www.upjohn.org/sites/defaul...

A new policy prevents non-citizens in the U.S., including green card holders, from applying for SBA loans. This will cripple growth in industries heavily dependent on immigrant entrepreneurs such as construction, food services, and healthcare. thebusinessjournal.com/new-sba-poli...

Months after the surge in ICE raids in Chicago ended, locally owned Latino businesses are still experiencing decreased sales and lower foot traffic, even if the businesses themselves were not raided. blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/13/l...

I just finished reading @jbrownsaracino.bsky.social's book on gentrification and the cultural life it's taken on. I highly recommend it. Who knew the concept of gentrification would be used to criticize the upscaling of everything from kale to penile enhancement? press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Out now! My paper examining White people displaced from gentrified neighborhoods. While they're displaced as frequently as non-White residents, they earn more and are displaced from richer neighborhoods, which cushions their fall and helps avoid adverse consequences. academic.oup.com/socpro/artic...

Today! A conversation on the state of political violence in the U.S., hosted by @prri.org and featuring speakers such as @profsamperry.bsky.social Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Palantir is providing ICE “confidence scores” on the likely neighborhoods where potential deportation targets live. Their app compiles data from many sources to link suspects to neighborhoods. One officer stated in court records, “It’s kind of like Google Maps.” www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...

As with many things these days, I'm surprised this isn't getting more news coverage than it is. Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Shut Down After 58 Years Due to Trump Eliminating Funding variety.com/2026/tv/news...

NEW AT DEMOGRAPHY: We use difference-in-difference approach using applicant vs. implemented counties w/ 287(g) ICE agreements 2000-2020 to identify a plausibly causal effect immigration enforcement leading to sizeable increase in Latino-White segregation. OPEN ACCESS PDF doi.org/10.1215/0070...

The academic performance of men in the U.S. has declined so much in comparison to women that, in order to keep gender ratios roughly equal at U.S. colleges, a de facto 'affirmative action for men' has been created. My, how things have changed. yaschamounk.substack.com/p/end-affirm...

Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared

new paper by Sean Westwood: With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

These days, the U.S.'s affordability crisis will be addressed, if not solved, locally rather than nationally. To provide concrete, attainable local solutions, @urbaninstitute.bsky.social has produced ideas for how to achieve an affordable future: www.urban.org/apps/policy-...

Tariffs and immigration enforcement are harming small businesses in the U.S., but they're absolutely destroying immigrant-owned ones. This new report highlights those harms and provides creative solutions some cities are using to address the problem. www.brookings.edu/articles/sta...

The Data Rescue Project is seeking volunteers to help it maintain HIFLD Open, which provides disaster preparedness data and geospatial resources that the U.S. government has discontinued access to. Please help them out! For more, see: www.datarescueproject.org/email/81e2e1...

German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

According to this article, a top Wall St analyst says the current AI stock market bubble will last 9 to 24 months more before it bursts. I don't know if that's true, but I found the article insightful, describing current economic events in the U.S. well. fortune.com/2025/10/07/a...

HAPPENING TODAY! Learn how to protect yourself from doxxing at the event below. The event caters to academics but is relevant to anyone concerned about being doxxed.

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, @detentionwatchnetwork.org is hosting a virtual event to help folks in the U.S. learn how movements in El Salvador are fighting against authoritarianism and dictatorship. Registration link and more details can be found here: detentionwatchnetwork.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/d...