Classic models of urban inequality acknowledge the importance of politics for resource distribution and service provision. Yet, contemporary studies of spatial inequality rarely measure politics directly. In this paper, we introduce political dynasties as a way of integrating political economy approaches with ecological theory to better understand the political construction of urban spatial inequality. To do so, we examine the case of political dynasties within the Chicago city council. We show that, from 2011 to 2018, blocks in dynastic wards saw fewer homicides, assaults, robberies, and thefts relative to those in non-dynastic wards. We then leverage the 2015 ward redistricting to provide evidence that dynastic effects play some role in producing these outcomes: blocks annexed into dynastic wards experienced a decline in assaults and robberies and an increase in pothole coverings. While dynastic politicians improve outcomes for blocks they annex, they also withdraw power from those they displace; and displaced blocks had relatively higher levels of crime than annexed blocks in 2015. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that dynastic politicians are contributing to spatial inequalities within Chicago.

University of California Press, 2023. 318 pages, Prices (cloth and paper): $95.00 (hardcover); $29.95 (paperback). https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520390690/failing-forward. Asebe Regassa Debelo, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Review of “The New Power Elite” By Heather Gautney Oxford University Press, 2022. 336 pages, Price: $29.95 (hardcover). https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-new-power-elite-9780190637446?cc=us&lang=en&

Review of “Late Modernity in Crisis: Why We Need a Theory of Society” By Andreas Reckwitz and Hartmut Rosa Translated by V.A. Pakis, Polity Press, 2023, 224 pages. Prices: $69.95 (cloth) / $24.95 (paper). https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=late-modernity-in-crisis-why-we-need-a-theory-of-society--9781509556298

Review of “Anonymous: The Performance of Hidden Identities” By Thomas DeGloma University of Chicago Press, 2023. 280 pages. $99 (cloth) and $30 (paper). https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo205543080.html

Review of “Urban Specters: The Everyday Harms of Racial Capitalism” By Sarah Mayorga The University of North Carolina Press, 2023, 220 pages. Prices: $99.00 (cloth) and $27.95 (paper). https://uncpress.org/book/9781469674933/urban-specters/

Russell Sage Foundation, 2022, 244 Pages, Prices: $37.50 (paperback), https://www.russellsage.org/publications/soaking-middle-class Brianna Castro, Vanderbilt University

Review of “The impact of college diversity: struggles and successes at age 30” By Elizabeth Aries Temple University Press, 2023, 226 pages. Prices: $34.95 (paper), $104.50 (cloth). https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity.

This study addresses an underexplored mechanism of social inequality transmission, namely, intergenerational transfers from older parents to their adult children in terms of (i) money and (ii) time (specifically, devoted to sporadic or regular childcare). A yet unaddressed question in the literature is whether these two resources are transferred in a cumulative (i.e., both resources being transferred) or compensatory (i.e., only one resource being transferred) manner and how such cumulation or compensation depends on parental income and the wider institutional context. Filling this lacuna, this study investigates whether grandparents who have fewer financial resources compensate for their lack of opportunities to provide financial transfers to their adult children by transferring more time to their children, or whether higher-income parents are more likely to transfer both more time and money than lower-income parents, resulting in greater advantage among their receiving children (cumulation). Drawing on six waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, this study analyzes transfers from more than 53,000 grandparents aged 50 or older to their adult children across European countries. The findings show that higher-income parents, relative to lower-income parents, are more likely to provide both time (more precisely, sporadic childcare) and financial support to their adult children, yielding evidence for the cumulation of transfers. Further, evidence of a double (dis)advantage emerges, as social gradients in (financial and regular time) transfers are more pronounced in contexts with smaller public expenditures on formal childcare and a more unequal distribution of household incomes.

Review of “The Slow Violence of Immigration Court: Procedural Justice on Trial” By Maya Pagni Barak New York University Press. 2023, 240 pages. Prices (cloth and paper): $89.00 (hardcover); $30.00 (paperback). https://nyupress.org/9781479821044/the-slow-violence-of-immigration-court/

Review of “Addiction recovery and resilience: faith-based health services in an African American community” By Townsand Price-Spratlen SUNY Press, 2022, 278 pages. Prices: $99.00 (hardcover) / $34.95 (paper) https://sunypress.edu/Books/A/Addiction-Recovery-and-Resilience2

Birth weight is a robust predictor of valued life course outcomes, emphasizing the importance of prenatal development. But does birth weight act as a proxy for environmental conditions in utero, or do biological processes surrounding birth weight themselves play a role in healthy development? To answer this question, we leverage variation in birth weight that is, within families, orthogonal to prenatal environmental conditions: one’s genes. We construct polygenic scores in two longitudinal studies (Born in Bradford, N = 2008; Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, N = 8488) to empirically explore the molecular genetic correlates of birth weight. A 1 standard deviation increase in the polygenic score is associated with an ~100-grams increase in birth weight and a 1.4 pp (22 percent) decrease in low birth weight probability. Sibling comparisons illustrate that this association largely represents a causal effect. The polygenic score–birth weight association is increased for children who spend longer in the womb and whose mothers have higher body mass index, though we find no differences across maternal socioeconomic status. Finally, the polygenic score affects social and cognitive outcomes, suggesting that birth weight is itself related to healthy prenatal development.

Review of “In Too Deep: Class and Mothering in a Flooded Community” By Rachel Tolbert Kimbro University of California Press, 2021, 268 pages. Prices: $85.00 (hardcover), $29.95 (paperback). https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520377738/in-too-deep

Review of “Capitalist Outsiders: Oil’s Legacies in Mexico and Venezuela” By Leslie C. Gates University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023, 242 pages. Price: $50.00 (hardcover) https://upittpress.org/books/9780822947639/

Review of “Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life” By Asad L. Asad Princeton University Press, 2023, 344 pages, Prices: $33.00 (hardcover). www.press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691182285/engage-and-evade

Review of “Interracial Romance and Health: Bridging Generations, Race Relations, and Well-Being by Byron Miller” By Byron Miller Lexington Books, 2022. 156 pages. Price: $95.00 (hardcover) https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793634054/Interracial-Romance-and-Health-Bridging-Generations-Race-Relations-and-Well-Being

Review of “An Ugly Word: Rethinking Race in Italy and the United States” By Ann Morning and Marcello Maneri New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2022, 284 pages. Price: $37.50 (paper) https://www.russellsage.org/publications/ugly-word

Review of “The Rise of the Masses: Spontaneous Mobilization and Contentious Politics” By Benjamin Abrams The University of Chicago Press, 2023, 296 pages. Prices (cloth and paper): $99.00/$30.00. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo197019029.html

Review of “Words and Distinctions for the Common Good: Practical Reason in the Logic of Social Science” By Gabriel Abend Princeton University Press, 2023. 464 pages. Prices (cloth and paper): $120.00 (hardcover); $39.95 (paperback). https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691247069/words-and-distinctions-for-the-common-good.

Review of “Revolution of Things: The Islamism and Post-Islamism of Objects in Tehran” By Kusha Sefat Princeton University Press, 2023, 184 pages. Prices (cloth and paper): $99.95 (cloth); $29.95 (paperback), https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691246345/revolution-of-things