The American Academy of Political and Social Science

William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, has been named the winner of the 2013 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize.  He will receive the prize on Thursday, May 9, in Washington DC, at the Academy’s annual gala dinner at the Newseum.  The same day, in Washington, Wilson will deliver the inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lecture on Social Science and Public Policy. “Bill Wilson is one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century and, arguably, one of the great American scholars of our time,” said AAPSS President Douglas S. Massey.…

In his May 2010 Annals article, William Julius Wilson addresses the question of why both social structure and culture matter in a holistic analysis of inner-city poverty. In a recent interview with Stephanie Marudas, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard discusses why both structure and culture matter—and offers his thoughts on whether the nation is moving forward in bringing people out of poverty. Stephanie Marudas: In your piece in The Annals [“Why Both Social Structure and Culture Matter in a Holistic Analysis of Inner-City Poverty”] you make the case that there are both systemic structural…

On May 13, 2010, a Congressional Briefing was held at the Capitol Visitor's Center in Washington, DC, with the co-editors and contributor to The Annals volume on "Reconsidering Culture and Poverty." The following is a transcript of the briefing, which was moderated by Michael Laracy, Director of Policy Reform and Advocacy for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, with David Harding, University of Michigan, Michèle Lamont, Harvard University, Mario Small, University of Chicago, and William Julius Wilson, Harvard University. You may also listen to or download a podcast of the briefing. Part 1 Michael Laracy: Good morning. I'm Mike Laracy; I'm Director…

What is the role of culture in poverty? Sociologists David Harding, Michèle Lamont, Mario Small (editors), and William Julius Wilson (contributor) take up the long-abandoned subject in their May 2010 volume of The Annals, “Reconsidering Culture and Poverty,” in which they reject an earlier view that people would cease to be poor if they simply changed their culture. Instead, they point to new research that reconsiders the ways in which “meaning-making” factors into the production and reproduction of poverty. They emphasize the need for careful empirical analysis of how the poor…