NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.

How leaders and public managers can act to tackle rising polarization, radicalization, and social exclusion
London School of Economics and Political Science
July 13, 2023

For decades, the U.S. trended towards greater levels of social inclusion, a pattern which has seemingly stopped and potentially begun to reverse since around 2015. Montgomery van Wart (CSUSB, public administration), Miranda McIntyre (CSUSB, psychology), and Jeremy L. Hall ( University of Central Florida, public affairs) look at why social exclusion has been on the rise in the U.S., writing that declining social capital has led to greater feelings of grievance, social disintegration, victimization, defensiveness, hostility, and extreme partisanship, which in turn has radicalized many Americans. 

Mobility and Inequality in the Professoriate: How and Why First-Generation and Working-Class Backgrounds Matter
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

José Muñoz, sociology, was one of the authors of an article that examined “how and why working-class and first-generation backgrounds are especially meaningful and take as our case in point the professoriate and the discipline of sociology, – i.e., a field that intellectually prioritizes attention to group inequality and that arguably offers a conservative empirical test compared to other academic fields.”

The 5Cs of a Healthy Relationship
Cognella Academic Publishing

Richard Sinacola (psychology) authored a textbook for the abnormal psychology course at CSUSB. The goal of the publication is for students to find the text helpful in understanding healthy relationships and use the information to improve their personal lives, according to the author.

Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum hosts multi-media ‘Braided Channels’ talk
Buckrail (Jackson Hole, Wyo.)
July 10, 2023

Yolonda Youngs, associate professor of geography and environmental studies, on July 10 presented a multi-media talk with Grand Teton National Park museum curator Bridgette Guild on the history of Upper Snake River rafting in the Grand Teton National Park, Wyo., at the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum.

The talk was offered with the JHHSM’s special summer exhibit “Floating Through History: Uncovering Stories Behind Scenic Rafting on the Upper Snake River” presented with Youngs, Grand Teton National Park and Snake River Fund, and made possible through a grant from Wyoming Humanities. 

CSUSB professor weighs in on which 2024 candidate had the best — and worst — campaign launch
FiveThirtyEight
July 12, 2023

Meredith Conroy, associate professor of political science, participated in a FiveThirtyEight live chat to discuss the campaign launches of candidates running for president in 2024 – who had the best launch event, the worst and how much it matters. Said Conroy, “In terms of tone, I think Scott and Haley both did a good job positioning themselves as alternatives to Trump in their launches,” referring to Republicans U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Liberal LA has become an epicenter of violent culture wars. Here’s how.
Vice News
July 10, 2023

“The combination of Trump and the pandemic created this elastic and familiarized network of villains and heroes in the culture wars. Not everyone who shows up to protests necessarily has the same depth of prejudice or embrace of violence,” said Brian Levin, who heads the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. “But it doesn't matter because what these wedge issues do is enable people from different backgrounds, but who have extreme emotions, to work together.”

Local culture war drama may be especially pronounced in progressive strongholds, like California, said Levin, because hard-right activists know that the only way they can leverage any sort of power is within local politics. The types of angry scenes that have recently played out in Glendale are unlikely to play out in Florida, for example, because extremists and culture warriors know they have an ideological ally in Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Hate crimes on the upswing in Long Beach, with more this year so far than in all of 2022
Long Beach Post
July 13, 2023

While limited national data is available for the first half of 2023, Long Beach’s year-over-year increase “kind of bucks the trend” seen in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, which are down compared with the same period of 2022, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. After declining or staying flat for a few years, new data from the Long Beach Police Department shows the number is rising again and has already surpassed last year’s total.

And it could get worse, if past statistics bear out. Levin said hate crimes are often tied to major events, such as a presidential election or the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, but they can also be seasonal – in the last 30 years, nearly all of the months with the most reported hate crimes were in the second half of the year.

These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”