McDonnell, Erin Metz. 2017. “Patchwork Leviathan: How pockets of bureaucratic governance flourish within institutionally diverse developing states” American Sociological Review 82(3): 476-410
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Within seemingly “weak” states exceptionally effective subunits lie hidden. These high-performing niches exhibit organizational characteristics distinct from poor-performing peer organizations, but also from high-functioning organizations in Western countries. This article develops the concept of interstitial bureaucracy to explain how and why unusually high-performing state organizations in developing countries invert canonical features of Weberian bureaucracy. Interstices are distinct-yet-embedded subsystems characterized by practices inconsistent with those of the dominant institution. This interstitial position thereby poses particular challenges and requires unique solutions. Interstices cluster together scarce proto-bureaucratic resources to cultivate durable distinction from the status quo, while managing disruptions arising from interdependencies with the wider neopatrimonial field.
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McDonnell, Erin Metz. 2016. “Conciliatory States: Elite Ethno-Demographics and the Puzzle of Public Goods within Diverse African States.” Comparative Political Studies. 49(11): 1513-1549
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Existing theory associates ethnolinguistic diversity with a host of negative outcomes. This article analyzes the puzzle of Ghana, the 12th most diverse state globally, yet among the most peaceful, democratic, and developed African states. It argues the position of post-independence political elites within ethno-demographic structures helps explain why some diverse African states pursued broad nation-building public goods, mitigating the political salience of diversity. Diversity encouraged provision of social goods with broad-based support in states with a modest plurality—not large enough to dominate, but without proximately sized ethnic groups—especially for leaders from a minority. Comparative historical analysis of Ghana is expanded with abbreviated case studies on Guinea, Togo, and Kenya.
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McDonnell, Erin Metz. 2015. “Food Porn: The Conspicuous Consumption of Food in the Age of Digital Reproduction“ in Food Media and Contemporary Culture: The Edible Image. Peri Bradley (Ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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What is "food porn?" This chapter tackles the subject of food porn as a cultural object, situated within the twin forces of conspicuous consumption online and food as an art form in the age of digital reproduction. In the pursuit of analysing the visual aesthetic of food porn, this essay discusses everything from the pornographic gaze to the latent sensuality of food and the sexual symbolism of food presentation. The chapter is a cultural analysis of the voyeuristic practice and the application of a pornographic visual aesthetic to food, as reproduced in still photography and popularized through the Internet network of food blogs. It draws on cultural theorists including Bourdieu, Veblen, and Benjamin to examine how food intersects with efforts to socially display class, status, leisure, and pleasure.
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McDonnell, Erin Metz. 2013. “Budgetary Units: A Weberian Approach to Consumption.” The American Journal of Sociology 119(2): 307-350
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Established consumption theory relies heavily on application of individualistic frames and market models of behavior. A framework built around consumption-oriented groups would facilitate progress toward a more general theory of consumption. This article reintroduces and extends Weber’ s “ budgetary unit” concept to address this gap, correcting key problems dogging the consumption literature. The budgetary unit concept . 1. offers a new framework for theorizing and better accounting for observed consumption patterns, . 2. reveals how consumption units have organizational logics, preferences, strengths, and vulnerabilities that are consequentially distinct from market logic of production and profit, and . 3. focuses attention on social processes and features enabling theorization of general social patterns of consumption across diverse contexts. This article highlights the explanatory power and broad applicability of Weber’ s budgetary unit approach using the conventionally dissimilar cases of Russian organized crime, Catholic nuns, immigrant remittances, and low-income families’ child support.
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McDonnell, Erin Metz and Gary Alan Fine. 2011 “Pride and Shame in Ghana: Collective Memory and Nationalism among Elite Students.” African Studies Review 54(3):121-42
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Based on an original dataset of university students, this article investigates Ghanaian collective memories of past events that are sources of national pride or shame. On average, young elite Ghanaians express more pride than shame in their national history, and they report shame mostly over actions that caused some physical, material, or symbolic harm. Such actions include not only historic events and the actions of national leaders, but also mundane social practices of average Ghanaians. Respondents also report more “active” than “receptive” shame; that is, they are more ashamed of events or practices that caused harm to others and less ashamed about events in which they were the “victims.” We advance the idea of a standard of “reasonableness” that Ghanaians apply in their evaluation of events, behaviors, or circumstances: they apply contemporary standards of morality to past events, but they temper their judgment based on considerations of whether past actions were “reasonable” given the power and material imbalances at that time. Ghanaian students identify strongly with both national and pan-African identities, and they frequently evoke their international image to judge a national event as either honorable or shameful. Ethnicity can be one factor in an individual’s judgment of precolonial events, whereas political party affiliation is the stronger predictor of attitudes toward postindependence events.
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