Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives, Book 64, (Paperback)

Publishers Weekly,In this groundbreaking study, Binder and a UC-San Diego assistant professor of sociology, and Wood, a doctoral candidate in that field, examine conservatives on American university campuses. The heart of the study is a collection of interviews in 2008 and 2009 of current students and recent graduates of two pseudonymous universities: Western Public and Eastern Elite. Binder and Wood find that differences in campus cultures, both formal elements created by the institutions and informal elements fostered by the students, are the primary factors in the differences in the students' behavior. In addition to the interviews of students, the authors also include interviews with staff from national organizations that support campus conservative activity as well as data from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. Their study demonstrates that because the much larger Western Public university fosters a sense of anonymity, conservative students there are more likely to choose a provocative approach, whereas the sense of being in a unique community at the Eastern Elite college supports a style of civilized discourse. The use of interviews makes the book a livelier read, but it's still best suited to a narrow audience of academics and political strategists. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.,Publishers Weekly,Publishers Weekly,In this groundbreaking study, Binder and a UC-San Diego assistant professor of sociology, and Wood, a doctoral candidate in that field, examine conservatives on American university campuses. The heart of the study is a collection of interviews in 2008 and 2009 of current students and recent graduates of two pseudonymous universities: Western Public and Eastern Elite. Binder and Wood find that differences in campus cultures, both formal elements created by the institutions and informal elements fostered by the students, are the primary factors in the differences in the students' behavior. In addition to the interviews of students, the authors also include interviews with staff from national organizations that support campus conservative activity as well as data from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. Their study demonstrates that because the much larger Western Public university fosters a sense of anonymity, conservative students there are more likely to choose a provocative approach, whereas the sense of being in a unique community at the Eastern Elite college supports a style of civilized discourse. The use of interviews makes the book a livelier read, but it's still best suited to a narrow audience of academics and political strategists. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.