Background
Lamont, Michele was born on December 15, 1957 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Came to the United States, 1983. Daughter of Jacques and Jeanine (Page) Lamont.
( Michèle Lamont takes us into the world inhabited by wor...)
Michèle Lamont takes us into the world inhabited by working-class men--the world as they understand it. Interviewing black and white working-class men who, because they are not college graduates, have limited access to high-paying jobs and other social benefits, she constructs a revealing portrait of how they see themselves and the rest of society. Morality is at the center of these workers' worlds. They find their identity and self-worth in their ability to discipline themselves and conduct responsible but caring lives. These moral standards function as an alternative to economic definitions of success, offering them a way to maintain dignity in an out-of-reach American dreamland. But these standards also enable them to draw class boundaries toward the poor and, to a lesser extent, the upper half. Workers also draw rigid racial boundaries, with white workers placing emphasis on the "disciplined self" and blacks on the "caring self." Whites thereby often construe blacks as morally inferior because they are lazy, while blacks depict whites as domineering, uncaring, and overly disciplined. This book also opens up a wider perspective by examining American workers in comparison with French workers, who take the poor as "part of us" and are far less critical of blacks than they are of upper-middle-class people and immigrants. By singling out different "moral offenders" in the two societies, workers reveal contrasting definitions of "cultural membership" that help us understand and challenge the forms of inequality found in both societies.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674009924/?tag=2022091-20
( Excellence. Originality. Intelligence. Everyone in aca...)
Excellence. Originality. Intelligence. Everyone in academia stresses quality. But what exactly is it, and how do professors identify it? In the academic evaluation system known as “peer review,” highly respected professors pass judgment, usually confidentially, on the work of others. But only those present in the deliberative chambers know exactly what is said. Michèle Lamont observed deliberations for fellowships and research grants, and interviewed panel members at length. In How Professors Think, she reveals what she discovered about this secretive, powerful, peculiar world. Anthropologists, political scientists, literary scholars, economists, historians, and philosophers don’t share the same standards. Economists prefer mathematical models, historians favor different kinds of evidence, and philosophers don’t care much if only other philosophers understand them. But when they come together for peer assessment, academics are expected to explain their criteria, respect each other’s expertise, and guard against admiring only work that resembles their own. They must decide: Is the research original and important? Brave, or glib? Timely, or merely trendy? Pro-diversity or interdisciplinary enough? Judging quality isn’t robotically rational; it’s emotional, cognitive, and social, too. Yet most academics’ self-respect is rooted in their ability to analyze complexity and recognize quality, in order to come to the fairest decisions about that elusive god, “excellence.” In How Professors Think, Lamont aims to illuminate the confidential process of evaluation and to push the gatekeepers to both better understand and perform their role.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674032667/?tag=2022091-20
( Drawing on remarkably frank, in-depth interviews with 1...)
Drawing on remarkably frank, in-depth interviews with 160 successful men in the United States and France, Michèle Lamont provides a rare and revealing collective portrait of the upper-middle class—the managers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and experts at the center of power in society. Her book is a subtle, textured description of how these men define the values and attitudes they consider essential in separating themselves—and their class—from everyone else. Money, Morals, and Manners is an ambitious and sophisticated attempt to illuminate the nature of social class in modern society. For all those who downplay the importance of unequal social groups, it will be a revelation. "A powerful, cogent study that will provide an elevated basis for debates in the sociology of culture for years to come."—David Gartman, American Journal of Sociology "A major accomplishment! Combining cultural analysis and comparative approach with a splendid literary style, this book significantly broadens the understanding of stratification and inequality. . . . This book will provoke debate, inspire research, and serve as a model for many years to come."—R. Granfield, Choice "This is an exceptionally fine piece of work, a splendid example of the sociologist's craft."—Lewis Coser, Boston College
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226468178/?tag=2022091-20
Lamont, Michele was born on December 15, 1957 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Came to the United States, 1983. Daughter of Jacques and Jeanine (Page) Lamont.
Bachelor, Ottawa University, Ontario, 1977. Master of Arts, Ottawa University, Ontario, 1978. Doctorate, University Paris, 1983.
Postdoctoral fellow Stanford (California) University, 1983-1985. Assistant professor University Texas, Austin, 1985-1987, Princeton (New Jersey) University, 1987-1993, associate professor, 1993—2000, professor, 2000—2003. Fellow Radcliffe Institute Advanced Study, 2006—2007.
Professor Harvard University, since 2003.
( Drawing on remarkably frank, in-depth interviews with 1...)
( Michèle Lamont takes us into the world inhabited by wor...)
( Excellence. Originality. Intelligence. Everyone in aca...)
Member American Sociological Association (chair cultural section 1993-1994).
Married Frank Richardson Dobbin, June 6, 1987.