USC.edu

Paul Lichterman

Professor of Sociology and Religion
Paul Lichterman
Email lichterm@usc.edu Office KAP 352 Office Phone (213) 740-3533

Research & Practice Areas

culture (political culture, morality, organizational culture), religion, political sociology, civic engagement and social movements, white racial identity construction, theory, qualitative methodology, ethnographic methods

Biography

Paul Lichterman’s specialty areas include culture, civic organizations and social movements, religion, morality, racial identity construction, qualitative methodology, and theory. Much of Paul’s research asks how people work to address social problems in a socially unequal, culturally diverse society. His first book, The Search for Political Community (Cambridge, 1996), investigated different kinds of grassroots environmentalism, while his second book, Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying to Bridge America’s Divisions (Princeton, 2005), compared experiences of nine religiously sponsored community service groups responding to U.S. welfare policy reforms in the later 1990s. Recently Paul published How Civic Action Works: Fighting for Housing in Los Angeles (Princeton 2021), a comparative, ethnographic study of collective action to promote more affordable housing construction and assist unhoused people in Los Angeles. Focussing closely on how advocates crafted their claims, built their campaigns and service projects, the book challenges much well-established thinking about what is “strategic” and what counts as “success.” It offers a new conceptual framework for studying collective action. Paul has used his research on social activists, local volunteers and nonprofit organizations to theorize how culture shapes action in everyday life, and how people in turn use culture. He also writes on qualitative research methodology and epistemology. Paul has won Best Article awards three times from the ASA’s Section on Sociology of Culture, for papers on: how different styles of group interaction shape the meaning of symbols and discourses; a new conceptual framework for studying civic action; and a study of how LGBTQ activists make different kinds of identity claims in different settings. He also won a best article award from the Section on Political Sociology for the work on civic action. Elusive Togetherness won the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Distinguished Scholarship Award of the Pacific Sociological Association, and Honorable Mention from ASA’s Section on Sociology of Culture. Paul’s work is translated into French, Dutch, and Italian. Currently Paul is studying the morality and politics of anti-racism in the U.S., especially among white people, in social activist and workplace sites. The work is supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award.

Education

  • Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 5/1992
  • M.A. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 12/1983
  • B.A. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 6/1981

  • Tenure Track Appointments

    • Professor of Sociology and Religion, University of Southern California, 12/05/2008 –
    • Associate Professor of Sociology and Religion, University of Southern California, 08/16/2004 – 12/05/2008
    • Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 04/22/2004 – 05/30/2006
    • Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 01/01/1992 – 04/21/2004

    Visiting and Temporary Appointments

    • Fellow, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 05/26/2019 – 08/06/2019
    • Visiting Professor, Université de Paris VIII, 05/01/2010 – 05/28/2010
    • Visiting Fellow, Princeton University, Center for the Study of Religion, 2001-2002
    • Annenberg Scholar, Annenberg School for Communication, U of Pennsylvania, 1994-1995

  • Research Keywords

    culture, political sociology and social movements, civic engagement, religion, white identity construction, qualitative methodologies, epistemology of social science, theory

    Research Specialties

    culture (political culture, morality, organizational culture), religion, political sociology, civic engagement and social movements, white racial identity construction, theory, qualitative methodology, ethnographic methods

    Detailed Statement of Research Interests

    Paul Lichterman’s research areas include culture, religion, politics and social movements, civic organizations, and theory. He uses and writes about qualitative methodology, especially participant-observation. Much of his research investigates the social and cultural dynamics of civic organizations, volunteer groups and social movements. A major goal of this research is to find out how people work collectively to address social problems in an unequal, diverse society. 

  • Book

    • Lichterman, P. How Civic Action Works: Fighting for Housing in Los Angeles. Princeton: Princeton University Press.2021.
    • Lichterman, P., Potts, C. Brady (Ed.). (2008). The Civic Life of American Religion. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
    • Lichterman, P. R. (2005). Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying to Bridge America’s Divisions. Princeton University Press.
    • Lichterman, P. R. (1996). The Search for Political Community: American Activists Reinventing Commitment. Cambridge University Press.

    Journal Article

    • Lichterman, P., Dasgupta, K. (2020). “From Culture to Claimsmaking”. Sociological Theory. Vol. 38 (3), pp. 236-262.
    • Dasgupta, K., Lichterman, P. (2016). How a Housing Advocacy Coalition Adds Health: A Culture of Claims-making. Social Science and Medicine. Vol. 165, pp. 255-262.
    • Lichterman, P., Reed, I. (2015). “Theory and Contrastive Explanation in Ethnography”. Sociological Methods and Research. Vol. 44 (4), pp. 585-635.
    • Weare, C., LIchterman, P., Esparza, N. (2014). “Collaboration and Culture: Organizational Culture and the Dynamics of Collaborative Networks”. Policy Studies Journal. Vol. 42 (4)
    • Lichterman, P., Eliasoph, N. (2014). “Civic Action”. American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 120 (4)
    • Lichterman, P. (2012). Religion in Public Action: From Actors to Settings. Sociological Theory. Vol. 30 (1), pp. 15-36.
    • Lichterman, P. R. (2008). “Religion and the Construction of Civic Identity.” American Sociological Review. American Sociological Review 73(1)83-104 (Feb. ’08).. Vol. 73 (1), pp. 83-104.
    • Lichterman, P. (2007). “Repenser la “critique” dans la sociologie culturelle états-unienne : remplacer la démystification par une solution pragmatique.”. Tracés: Revue de Sciences Humaines. Vol. 13 (2), pp. 73-89.
    • Lichterman, P. R. (2006). “Social capital or group style? Rescuing Tocqueville’s insights on civic engagement”. Theory and Society/Kluwer Academic Publications (Kluwer). Vol. 35(5/6), pp. 529-563.
    • Lichterman, P. (2006). “Circulation de la religion sur la place publique locale aux États-Unis.”. Sociologie et Sociétés. Vol. 38 (1), pp. 31-54.
    • Lichterman, P., Eliasoph, N. (2003). “Culture in Interaction” (co-authored with Nina Eliasoph), American Journal of Sociology 108(4): 735-794 (January). American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 108 (4), pp. 735-794.
    • Election to Sociological Research Association, 2020 –
    • Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship Recipient, 2024 – 2025
    • Clifford Geertz Award, American Sociological Association Section on Soclology of Culture, 2016
    • Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award, American Sociological Association, Section on Political Sociology, 2016
    • Honorable Mention, Best Article Award, Sociology of Religion section, ASA, 2013
    • Provost’s award-ASHSS program, 07/2008 – 06/2009
    • Visiting Professor, Universität Erfurt, 06/01/2009 – 06/18/2009
    • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Distinguished Book Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2006 – 2007
    • Fulbright Award, Senior Specialist at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 11/2006 – 12/2006
    • Distinguished Scholarship Award, Pacific Sociological Association, 2006
    • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Honorable Mention, Best Book competition, Amer. Sociological Asoo. Section on Culture, 2006
    • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Best Article Award, Section on the Sociology of Culture of the American Sociological Association, 2005
    • Fellow (or Equivalent) of National Society in Discipline, Center for Study of Religion, Princeton University, 2001 – 2002
    • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Best Article Award, Section on the Sociology of Culture of the American Sociological Association, 2001
    • Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999 – 2000
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