Summer 2025 IN THIS ISSUE - Message from the Chair - Note from the Editor - 2025 Global Division Award Winners - SSSP 2025 Global Division Sessions - Graduate Student Spotlight - Member’s Recent Publications Division chair Caitlin Schroering Assistant Professor of Global Studies Affiliate Faculty of Latin American Studies and Sociology University of North Carolina at Charlotte cschroer@charlotte.edu Newsletter editor Álvaro Germán Torres Mora PhD candidate in Sociology University of Tennessee, Knoxville atorres@vols.utk.edu Message from the Chair Dear Global Division Members: The typical greeting of “I hope this finds you well” feels inadequate in these times—and so I hope that this simply finds you, and I send my solidarity and care to all who are reading it. This is my second, and final, newsletter as Chair of the Global Division. Much gratitude to our fantastic newsletter editor, Álvaro Germán Torres Mora. Congratulations to Beatriz Padilla who is the chair-elect for the division, and will be assuming the role of chair next month. I extend my appreciation to the multiple people who stepped up to run for the position. In terms of the coming year, I am also glad to share the news that our newsletter editor, Álvaro Germán Torres Mora, has volunteered to remain in the position for a second term. I extend my thanks to everyone who served on an award committee, and my congratulations to our division’s awardees: j. Siguru Wahutu, Book Award winner; and Maria Ximena Davila, Student Paper Award winner. Additionally, this year we again have two Honorable Mentions for the Book Award: Emek Ergun and Sharon M. Quinsaat. We had an impressive number of book award nominations this year (14), and I would again like to extend my congratulations to all of the winners! Much gratitude as well to everyone who served on a committee and put in extensive hours of labor to make these awards possible. Thank you! In the following pages you will find information about our division-sponsored and co-sponsored sessions for the Chicago conference, a graduate student spotlight, and members’ recent publications. Last year I noted how, in various literal and figurative ways, the world is on fire, and I know that I find myself fighting against despair and for hope. Unfortunately, these words ring even more true this year, as the Israeli genocide funded by US tax dollars continues in Gaza, and the Trump Administration unleashes horrific cruelty toward immigrants and those who stand up for justice. Climate change continues to accelerate, fueled by greed and militarism. I believe that all life on this planet is interconnected, and that as scholars we have a responsibility to speak truth to power and fight against systems of oppression. The imperialist, patriarchal, racial capitalist world system is in its death throes, and in reaction to this, we see an ongoing militaristic and anti-democratic reaction to stifle the voices that are fighting for a different world. I often struggle to see the role of academia and professional associations in this struggle, as they are too often a place where these unjust systems are replicated and upheld. At the same time, I have met so many incredible people from all over the globe who are involved in our division, and I hope that this division can be a place where people can build collective capacity to struggle together. I hope as well that it can be a place where we can also do the important work of not just critiquing what is wrong, but imagining what could be, and working to make it so. As I wrote last year, if we cannot imagine a different world, we cannot build it. There is much destruction and pain; there is also much beauty and resistance. This remains so. I would like to extend my gratitude for being chosen to serve as chair of the Global Division of SSSP and I hope to see many of you in Chicago in August. At the same time, I recognize the current political reality, and know that some of you reading this will not be able to make it to Chicago. While there is unfortunately not an option for virtual participation, I trust that we can find more opportunities to connect in the future, in both virtual and physical spaces. Caitlin Schroering Chair, Global Division Society for the Study of Social Problems Assistant Professor of Global Studies Affiliate Faculty of Latin American Studies and Sociology University of North Carolina at Charlotte   Note from the Editor Greetings, Global Division Members! I am Álvaro Germán Torres Mora, a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The inspiring message from our Division Chair, Caitlin Schroering, is worth reading many times due to the concerning global circumstances. In this issue, we extend our heartiest congratulations to the Division’s 2025 award winners, whose work and dedication to studying problems at a global scale deserve special recognition. We also highlight the Global division sessions at this year’s SSSP conference and spotlight the work of Chetna Khandelwal, who studies the intersections of environmentalism with decoloniality, Southern feminisms, anti- racism, and animal rights.. We end by showcasing the recent publications of our members. The work of our members and others is of utmost relevance to better understand social disparities and what alternatives we have to mitigate the impacts of historically rooted inequalities and reduce the class, race, and gender gaps from a global perspective. These issues will be deeply explored through the Global division-sponsored sessions at SSSP. The annual meeting in Chicago will be the perfect scenario to discuss new concepts and ideas, build networks, and make new friends. Please check out what sessions we are sponsoring or cosponsoring, make a list, and attend as many as you can. Álvaro Germán Torres Mora Editor, Global Division Newsletter Society for the Study of Social Problems PhD Candidate in Sociology University of Tennessee, Knoxville 2025 Global Division Award Winners Graduate Student Paper Award Winner: “Longing for the State: Women Grassroots Activists and Local State-building in Colombia”, Maria Ximena Davila, The University of Texas at Austin. Book Award Winner: In the Shadow of the Global North: Journalism in Postcolonial Africa, j. Siguru Wahutu, Cambridge University Press, 2024. Book Award Honorable Mention: Virgin Crossing Borders: Feminist Resistance and Solidarity in Translation, Emek Ergun, University of Illinois Press, 2023. Book Award Honorable Mention: Insurgent Communities: How Protests Create a Filipino Diaspora, Sharon M. Quinsaat, The University of Chicago Press, 2024   SSSP 2025 Global Division Sessions Division-Sponsored Sessions Friday, August 8 8:30 am Session 003: Global Solidarities for Climate Justice in the Age of Climate Chaos Room: Kimball Room Sponsor: Global Organizers: Marko Salvaggio, Tulane University and Clare E. B. Cannon, University of California, Davis Presider& Discussant: Clare E. B. Cannon, University of California, Davis Description: This session discusses global implications of climate change, including issues and problems of climate injustice and how communities come together or not to advance climate solutions. Following the theme of Insurgent Sociology in a Time of Crisis, this session seeks to unearth the many ways people are working to confront climate change and create equitable solutions. Papers: “Global Commodity Chains to Address Climate Change and Their Development Impacts,” David A. Smith, University of California, Irvine, Paul Ciccantell, Western Michigan University, and Elizabeth Sowers, California State University, Channel Islands. “Land and Climate Justice among Racial, Ethnic, and Indigenous Populations in the Global South: Critical Insights on Sustainability Transitions from Bangladesh,” Saleh Ahmed, Michigan State University “Pathways to Autonomy: A Settlement of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Agroecological Transition in Brazil,” Noa Cykman, University of California, Santa Barbara “Deviant Resilience,” Clare E. B. Cannon, University of California, Davis Friday, August 8 12:30 pm Session 013: Militarization, Forced Migration, and Authoritarianism Room: Kimball Room Sponsor: Global Organizer, Presider & Discussant: Nicole M. Butkovich Kraus, West Texas A&M University Description: This paper session will address militarization, forced migration, and authoritarianism. It includes work from a variety of theoretical perspectives and empirical methods, particularly focusing on cases of global interest. Papers: “Conceptualizing Pan-African Militarism in the 21st Century: The Incorporation of the Sahel into the Capitalist World-economy,” Tamas Gerocs, SUNY Binghamton “Forced Migration and the Politics of Crisis: Discursive Constructions of Agency and Safety in U.S. Immigration News,” Emma-Claire LaSaine, University of Wisconsin-Madison “Polish Community and Organizational Responses to Ukrainian War Refugees,” Nicole M. Butkovich Kraus, West Texas A&M University “Rethinking Queer Migration: The Case of Skilled Chinese LGBTQ+ Migrants in North America,” Tori Shucheng Yang, University of British Columbia “Sacrificing the Feminine to Fit in and Embracing the Feminine to Stand out: Servicewomen’s Response to the Essentialist Gendered Practices of the U.S. Military,” Stephanie Bonnes, University of New Haven Joint-Sponsored Sessions Saturday, August 9. 8:30am Session 033: CRITICAL DIALOGUE: Transformative Justice: Theory and Research in Pursuit of Emancipatory Power, Agency, Community, and Peacemaking Room: Wilson Room Sponsors: Community, Research, and Practice, Conflict, Social Action, and Change, Global Social Problems Theory Organizer: Caroline M. Schöpf, University of the Philippines Diliman Presider/Discussant: Loretta E. Bass, The University of Oklahoma Description: This session focuses broadly on theories and research on/in transformative justice praxes: for communities, peacemaking, and agency addressing root causes of violence and inequality, fostering community and solidarity, and realizing emancipatory power and healing. Submissions discuss justice for the Global Majority/Global South, restorative practices, community engaged work, Indigenous, post-colonial, and grassroots justice models, intersectional approaches to justice and power, political praxis and transformation, social justice and social change, practicing and teaching transformative justice, and approaches to and strategies for transformative justice research. Papers: “Climate Resilient Development in the Post-pandemic, Postconflict Era: The Case of Isabela de Basilan,” Diana Therese Montejo Veloso, De La Salle University “Cripping the Undercommons: Towards Crip of Color Critique in Abolitionist Medical Education,” Mustafa Baqai, Coalition for Abolition Medicine at University of California, San Diego “Longing for the State: Women Grassroots Activists and Local State-building in Colombia,” Maria Ximena Davila, The University of Texas at Austin, Winner of the Global Division’s Student Paper Competition “Space, Ethnorace, y Los Que Mandan: Cultivating Vibes for Musical Belonging in Greater LA,” Brandon D. Saucedo Pita, University of Southern California “The Power of ‘Real’: Creative Writing and Everyday Restorative Practice,” Sophia Lindner, Yale University Sunday, August 10 2:30 pm Session 087: CRITICAL DIALOGUE: Resistance on College Campuses Room: Wabash Room Sponsors: Critical Race and Ethnic Study, Global Organizer &Presider/ Discussant: Amani M. Awwad, SUNY Canton Description: This session will focus on the history of resistance on college campuses. The focus will be on how such activity was received by the college administration, law enforcement, and party politics. Further exploration of the political, economic, social, and ideological implications of how the state, local and federal government agencies dealt/deal with such resistance movement on college campuses. Papers: “New Social Geographies of Solidarity: Student Protests and Political Consciousnesses,” Jason C. Mueller, Kennesaw State University “From Campus to Battlefield: Policing Empires and the Disruption of Student Protests,” Kariar Al-Naiem, University of California, Irvine “The U.S Media v. Universities: A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Pro-Palestine Student Protests,” Reese Castro, DePaul University “‘Where’s Nancy?’ Theorizing Suggestive Violence,” Liz Wilcox, Boston College Graduate Student Spotlight Chetna Khandelwal Chetna is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with specialism in Technologies and Markets, from the University of Warwick, and her MA in Sociology from the University of Calgary. Her research interests encompass global climate justice, marginal feminist place-making, social movements, Southern theory, immigration, and speciesism. She is deeply invested in the intersections of environmentalism with decoloniality, Southern feminisms, anti-racism, and animal rights. Chetna's doctoral research sits at the intersection of environmental & climate justice (ECJ) advocacy and migration. Her work is contextualized by and critical of the nativist, white supremacist and sexist histories of mainstream environmental movements, which are typically characterized by conservationist narratives and/or technocratic big green organizations. As such, her study adopts a Southern Feminist epistemology, and consists of two interrelated parts that are in global conversation (and relation) with one another: 1) Environmental & climate justice advocacy undertaken by 1st and 2nd generation immigrants in USA and Canada; and 2) Climate justice advocacy undertaken by people in India who are interested in issues pertaining to internal/international migration. In both cases, she will be speaking and walking alongside with advocates/activists who hold professional ties to ECJ (scholars, artists, filmmakers, journalists, lawyers), and those with voluntary ties to ECJ (volunteers within environmental justice organizations, ardent consumers of ECJ artwork, etc.). She hopes to travel across India and Canada to engage with ECJ advocates and activists. Refusing to subject herself to Trumpian border control, she will be collecting data online for the U.S. component of her research. As her research continues, Chetna hopes to understand how voices from and residing within the Global South envision our collective climate futures. Given the inherently global nature of this work, both in terms of ECJ as a global issue and the participants Chetna will be recruiting, this research provides opportunity to develop understandings of transnational solidarities and localized divergences within ECJ advocacy work. Her research is likely to identify barriers for immigrants to participate in ECJ work. Additionally, part 2 of her study ensures that voices of immigrant diasporas in the Global North do not overshadow experiences of ECJ advocates living in the Global South. In our horrifying political landscape, Chetna locates her grounding in a community-centered research group, the YARI-collective, which aims to re-imagine landings and (re)homing of newcomer youth of color in Canada. Collaborating with scholars and experts within and beyond disciplinary boundaries of Sociology, immigrant service-providing community organizations, and newcomer youth of color, has provided invaluable learnings to Chetna regarding the logistical, political, and affective dimensions of conducting research. On a personal note, the YARI-collective shapes and nurtures Chetna’s axiological compass in a world that increasingly silences moral voices.   Member’s Recent Publications Bush, Melanie E. L. 2025. “People’s Network for Land and Liberation (Commentary).” International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies 7(1). doi:10.13169/intecritdivestud.7.1.0136. Ciccantell, Paul S., Spencer Louis Potiker, David A. Smith, Elizabeth A. Sowers, and Luc McKenzie. 2025. “From Africa to Amazon.Com: Racialized Labor and Global Supply Chains.” Critical Sociology. doi:10.1177/08969205251319004. Deb, Nikhil, Manjusha Nair, and Glenn W. Muschert, eds. 2025. Handbook of Social Justice in the Global South. Edward Elgar Publishing. Escue, Melanie, Heide Castañeda, and Elizabeth Aranda. 2025. “Role of Informal Support Networks in Immigrant Young Adults’ Navigation of Mental Healthcare Services.” Qualitative Health Research. doi:10.1177/10497323251330219. Leffel, Benjamin, David A. Smith, and Helge Marahrens. 2025. “Destabilized Growth in World-City Formation: Comparing Hong Kong and Shanghai.” Journal of Urban Affairs 1–18. doi:10.1080/07352166.2025.2490577. Martínez, Caroline. 2025. “Indigenous Identity and Struggles for State Recognition in Ecuador.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. doi:10.1177/23326492241310171. Mora, Álvaro Germán Torres. 2025. “Dependency Theory Today.” Pp. 415–30 in Handbook of Social Justice in the Global South, edited by N. Deb, M. Nair, and G. W. Muschert. Edward Elgar Publishing. Mueller, Jason C. 2025a. “Dispossession, Accumulation, Anti-Systemic Resistance Capitalist Dispossessions: Redistribution and Capital Expansion in Contemporary Brazil. By BinDaniel. London: Routledge, 2025. 186 Pp., $190.00 (Hardback), ISBN: 9781032645940.” Critical Sociology. doi:10.1177/08969205251346420. Mueller, Jason C. 2025b. “Medelacide: The Intentional and Systematic Destruction of Healthcare Infrastructure.” Global Social Challenges Journal 1–28. doi:10.1332/27523349y2025d000000037. Mueller, Jason C. 2025c. “Youth Politics and Cognitive Mapping in the United States: From #OKBoomer to #BlackLivesMatter and #CeasefireNow.” Peace Review 37(1):217–34. doi:10.1080/10402659.2025.2456169. Polletta, Francesca, Debra Boka, Caroline Martínez, and Mutsumi Ogaki. 2025. “Social Movements in the Commercial Public Sphere: How Women’s Magazines Popularized Second-Wave Feminism.” American Journal of Sociology 130(5):1263–1314. doi:10.1086/734377. Potiker, Spencer Louis, David A. Smith, Paul S. Ciccantell, Elizabeth Sowers, and Luc McKenzie. 2024. “Labor Organizing at Chokepoints along Amazon’s Supply Chain: Locating Geo-Strategic Nodes.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 56(5):1521–38. doi:10.1177/0308518x241228991. Schroering, Caitlin. 2025. "A privatização da água e a luta pela recuperação dos bens comuns: resistência translocal e o direito à água" [“The privatization of water and the struggle to reclaim the commons: translocal resistance and the right to water]. In Energia e Sociedade No Capitalismo Contemporâneo [Energy and Society in Contemporary Capitalism], pp. 163-208. Edited by Carlos Vainer, Daiane Carlos Höhn, Dalila Alves Calisto, Flávia Braga Vieira, and Luiz Alencar Dalla Costa. São Paulo, SP: Expressão Popular. Schroering, Caitlin. 2024. Global Solidarities Against Water Grabbing: Without Water, We Have Nothing. Manchester University Press. Smith, David A., and Paul S. Ciccantell. 2024. “The Political Economy of Trade, Work, and Economy: De-Globalization – or Re-Globalization?” New Global Studies 18(3):301–24. doi:10.1515/ngs-2024-0011. Tillman, Korey. 2025. “Punitive Inertia: Anti-Blackness and the Policing of Motion.” Social Problems. doi:10.1093/socpro/spaf007. Torres Mora, Álvaro Germán. 2024. “Acuerdo de Paz Con Las FARC y Proceso de Justicia Transicional En Colombia: Derechos a La Verdad y a La Justicia.” [Peace agreement with FARC and transitional justice in Colombia: Rights to truth and justice]. Jurídicas CUC 20(1):378–403. doi:10.17981/juridcuc.20.1.2024.18. Vahabli, Danial. 2025. “From the Global South to the Human Rights Stage: A Study of Global Frame Resonance Using a Comparative Case of Women, Life, Freedom and Bloody November in Iran.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 66(2):320–48. doi:10.1177/00207152241269783. Zerai, Assata. 2025. Black Feminist Interventions to Decolonize the Westernized University: Epistemology, Research Methodology, and Pedagogy. The Africana Experience and Critical Leadership Studies. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.