Maxine Zinn | Michigan State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Maxine Zinn

Journal of Family Issues, Jun 9, 2022

While racial and demographic changes producing a multiracial United States are well-acknowledged ... more While racial and demographic changes producing a multiracial United States are well-acknowledged in the family field, insufficient attention is given to Latinos as a racialized population. As the Latino population continues to expand, it is essential for family studies to move beyond a Black/White binary. We call for making race and racialization central building blocks in research and analysis of Latino families. This paper provides an overview of research and thought on the racialization of Latino families, advancing a structural framing to reveal: (1) how race and intersecting inequalities shape families; and (2) how racialization processes use families to sustain and reinforce institutional inequalities. This structural framing encompasses a set of analytic premises for extending the study of family racialization to Latinos, thereby building a more comprehensive racial analysis of U.S. families.

Gender & Society, Sep 1, 1992

... Describing 16 AZTLAN Page 5. Chicano pursuits at the University of California at Davis, Jesus... more ... Describing 16 AZTLAN Page 5. Chicano pursuits at the University of California at Davis, JesusLeyba explains: The easiest way to understand the organizational structure under MECHA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de AztlAn) is to compare it to the extended family. . . . ...

Teaching Sociology, 1996

We began by discussing structural differences between professors and students. We suggested that ... more We began by discussing structural differences between professors and students. We suggested that these can be neither denied nor ignored, and ought not be magnified; such tactics can jeopardize the pedagogical task. We argued that ethical teaching presumes acknowledging inequality and meritocratic elitism. It entails making and maintaining clear distinctions between roles. In our opinion, ethical teaching begins with honesty and avoids deceptive conceptions of the student-professor relationship. It requires professors to monitor and manage their relations with students, to regulate degrees of informality, and to discriminate between friendliness and friendship. Ethical professors avoid casting students as peers because of misplaced egalitarian impulses or personal needs for popularity and approval. Ethical professors do not use students, and they guard against the damaging implications of customer-service analogies. We believe that ethical pedagogy requires us to patrol the boundaries of roles-our own and those of students. It may mean that we must instruct students in appropriate role relations. Our point is not to encourage professors to be coldly formal, indifferent, or imperiously superior in their relations with students. We do not intend to discourage the lasting relationships that sometimes occur, nor to deny that relationships can be negotiated within a variety of contexts. Our brief is not for affectless formality, but for a sensitive sociological realism. We recognize that a more reserved stance toward students affirms inequality. We are aware that individuals as self-reflexive actors can refuse to behave in ways that support hierarchy. Within meritocratic organizations, however, that endeavor strikes us as quixotic. So long as professors are obliged to rank and evaluate students, to certify their accomplishments, the relationship is inherently unequal. We think it is disingenuous to act otherwise. REFERENCE

The American Sociologist, Dec 1, 1999

It is a curious contradiction that sociology, a discipline that includes in its subject matter so... more It is a curious contradiction that sociology, a discipline that includes in its subject matter socialization, norms, occupations, formal organization, the institution of education and the concept of the career does not necessarily prepare its products in a systematic and coherent manner to become trained professionals. Newly minted Ph.D.s must often learn by trial and error because we have left

Teaching Sociology, Apr 1, 1988

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Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Apr 1, 1993

Colleges and universities use nicknames, logos, and mascots as identifying and unifying symbols, ... more Colleges and universities use nicknames, logos, and mascots as identifying and unifying symbols, especially surrounding their athletic teams. More than half of U. S. colleges and universities use sexist names and mascots for their women's athletic teams. We argue that these naming practices define, deprecate, and excude women. We show how these linguistic marking systems adopted by schools promote male supremacy and female subordination. They do so, just as sexist language does, by trivializing women, diminish ing them, and making them invisible. A case study of one university is presented where the name for male and female teams is a ram—a male sheep. When this name was identified in the school newspaper as sexist, various constituencies rallied to retain the traditional name. Their defenses are examined, looking especially at the parallels between these arguments and those used to resist changing sexist language in general.

Sociology of Sport Journal, Dec 1, 1989

American colleges and universities use nicknames, colors, logos, and mascots as identifying and u... more American colleges and universities use nicknames, colors, logos, and mascots as identifying and unifying symbols, especially concerning their athletic teams. This paper examines the dark side of these solidarity symbols by reporting the incidence and patterns found in the naming of collegiate men’s and women’s athletic teams. The data from 1,185 four-year schools reveal that more than half of American colleges and universities employ names, mascots, and/or logos that demean and derogate women’s teams. There are no significant differences in naming patterns by type of school (public, independent, or religious), but region is significant, with Southern schools more likely to use sexist names than schools elsewhere. The various sexist naming practices contribute to the maintenance of male dominance within college athletics by defining women athletes and women’s athletic programs as second class and trivial.

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Mar 1, 2000

This is an overview essay on the 1996 welfare legislation and its consequences. The paper is divi... more This is an overview essay on the 1996 welfare legislation and its consequences. The paper is divided into five parts: (1) The basic elements of the legislation; (2) The conservative assumptions undergirding this legislation and the progressive responses to them; (3) The consequences of the legislation for individuals and families; (4) The missing elements in the new welfare legislation; and (5) The progressive solution to welfare. From 1935 to 1996 the United States had a minimal welfare program for those in need. Since the Reagan administration this welfare program has gradually been dismantled. This dismemberment accelerated in 1996 when the federal government made welfare assistance to families temporary and withdrew $55 billion of federal aid to poor people. Thus, the federal safety net under the poor has been shredded especially for poor families with children (Schorr, 1997:163). This is an overview essay, drawing together the current information on the general and family-specific consequences resulting from the recent welfare legislation. It is divided into five parts: (1) the basic elements of the 1996 welfare legislation; (2) the conservative assumptions guiding that legislation and the progressive response; (3) the consequences of the legislation for individuals and families; (4) the missing elements

Teaching Sociology, Oct 1, 2000

TEXTBOOKS ARE CONTROVERSIAL in sociology. Some professors refuse to use textbooks in their course... more TEXTBOOKS ARE CONTROVERSIAL in sociology. Some professors refuse to use textbooks in their courses, believing that they are too simplistic. Others view textbooks as effective conduits of sociological knowledge. As an example of this latter position, a recent critique of current family textbooks created a furor in sociology and the national media because of their alleged bias (Glenn 1997; Footnotes 1998). Implicit in Glenn's critique was that textbooks impart learning. Further evidence of the importance of textbooks in the learning process is found in the Teaching Sociology special issue devoted to textbooks (1988; see also Agger 1989; and Kendall 1999). The corporatization of textbooks is yet another area of concern. With the increased frequency of mergers among publishing companies, there are not only fewer publishing outlets but also increasing pressures on authors to clone successful books, thereby squelching creativity. An additional controversy involving textbooks is whether they are limited only to transmitting existing knowledge (Tischler 1988). From this position, textbook writing is neither scholarly nor creative. We argue, to the contrary, that textbooks are not limited to the synthesis of existing materials in marketable ways, but that they are capable of actually shaping the

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 1983

Issues and concepts in the study of familism among Chicanos are critically examined. The intent i... more Issues and concepts in the study of familism among Chicanos are critically examined. The intent is to assess the adequacy of prevailing explanations and to apply pertinent theoretical developments in com parative family literature to recent empirical findings of kinship among Chicanos. It is argued that contemporary patterns of kinship can best be explained structurally, rather than by reference to the Mexican cultural heritage.

The Journal of ethnic studies, 1979

Routledge eBooks, Dec 29, 2020

Gender & Society, Jun 22, 2019

despite the considerable body of scholarship and practice on interconnected systems of dominance ... more despite the considerable body of scholarship and practice on interconnected systems of dominance and its effects on women in different social locations, chicanas remain "outside the frame" of mainstream academic feminist dialogues. this article provides an overview of the contributions of chicana intersectional thought, research, and activism. We highlight four major scholarly areas of contribution: borders, identities, institutional inequalities, and praxis. although not a full mapping of the chicana/Latina presence in intersectionality, it proffers the distinctive features and themes defining the intersectional terrain of chicana feminism.