Sociologist
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About

A graduate of Harvard University (PhD, 2017), I am an Assistant Professor in Sociology at Boston University and a Veni fellow at Erasmus University Rotterdam. My research contends with why the growing economic gap has left many of us unconcerned.

From Julius Caesar's self-described decisive victory over the Gauls, to the superior ingenuity of David in defeating Goliath, Western culture is rife with stories of individual accomplishment. We celebrate the success of leaders in business, science and sports, and when we do, we tend to attribute the outcome of events to the talents and achievements of (extraordinary) individuals.

In today's unequal world, how we make sense of wealth and poverty similarly depends on the way we understand the causes of events; in particular, whether we consider successes and setbacks to be the result of hard work and ingenuity (or lack thereof) or regard them as the outcome of circumstances not fully within our control. Looking at inequality through the lens of hard work and ingenuity implies a meritocratic worldview where people get what they deserve, or deservingly miss out. An alternative worldview is one that acknowledges the role of structural forces in shaping our lives.

How people make sense of inequality in turn drives their feelings of sympathy and solidarity with fellow citizens, informs their policy attitudes and motivates their political behavior. This, I believe, makes it an important area for research.

My work draws attention to the transformation of the social landscape that has accompanied the rise of inequality. Today, more than at any point in recent history, how much money you make determines where you live and whom you spend your life with. Upper middle class people have their own schools, neighborhoods and social networks, and working class and poor people have theirs.

Growing levels of economic inequality mean that experiences and interactions with people across income, wealth and racial fault lines are becoming increasingly rare. In the absence of contact, people lose sight of one other. Large inequality paradoxically insulates people from seeing the full extent of it. The rich learn to normalize their privilege, while the poor blame themselves for their place at the margins of society.

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I teach Sociological Theory, Sociological Methods, Social Inequality, and Understanding Meritocracy. My research interests include Social Stratification, Economic Sociology, Culture, Education and Race & ethnicity.

My work has been published in Social Problems, Socio-Economic Review, European Sociological Review, Sociology of Education, and the Annual Review of Sociology, among other journals (see papers).

It has been featured in The Guardian, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, The Independent, Education Week, The Conversation, and other outlets (see Press). I have also written extensively in my native Dutch.

You can contact me at mijs [at] essb.eur.nl or mijs [at] bu.edu, Click for my curriculum vitae [PDF].