I am Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.

I use ethnography to research how social forces shape the most intimate aspects of our lives — our relationships, our emotions, and our sense of self. I am particularly interested in the intersection of inequality and emotion in U.S. society.

I have two ongoing research projects. The first examines the affective underside of concentrated disadvantage and its management by various institutions, in particular how compounded hardship and institutional interventions shape disadvantaged people’s intimate bonds and sense of self. The second explores the social and institutional management of grief in the U.S. Learn more.

Before joining Berkeley Sociology, I held two postdoctoral positions, the first at Princeton University and the second in the School of Social Welfare at Berkeley. I graduated from the Ph.D. program in Sociology at Harvard University. Before that, I studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where I majored in Economics with a minor in the Social Sciences. I earned a BA in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne and an MA in Economic Analysis and Policy from the Paris School of Economics.

CV available upon request.

I am Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.

I use ethnography to research how social forces shape the most intimate aspects of our lives — our relationships, our emotions, and our sense of self. I am particularly interested in the intersection of inequality and emotion in U.S. society.