Skip to content
CIFAR header logo
fr
menu_mobile_logo_alt
  • News
  • Events
    • Public Events
    • Invitation-only Meetings
  • Programs
    • Research Programs
    • Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
    • Next Generation Initiatives
  • People
    • Fellows & Advisors
    • CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
    • Canada CIFAR AI Chairs
    • AI Strategy Leadership
    • Solution Network Members
    • Leadership
  • Support Us
  • About
    • Our Story
    • CIFAR 40
    • Awards
    • Partnerships
    • Publications & Reports
    • Careers
    • Staff Directory
    • Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
  • fr
  • Home
  • Bio

Follow Us

post_content

Wendy Espeland

Appointment

Advisor

Successful Societies

Connect

Northwestern University Profile

About

Sociologist Wendy Espeland studies organizations, culture and law.

Her 1998 book, The Struggle for Water: Politics, Rationality, and Identity in the American Southwest, told the story of a proposed dam in central Arizona that threatened wildlife and ancestral Aboriginal land. Espeland used this case study to explore rationality within a cultural and political context. She is currently writing a book about the effects of commensuration, the process of translating qualities into quantities. In it she investigates how media rankings have influenced higher education, how efforts to measure homosexuality have shaped gay and lesbian politics, and the commensurative practices necessary in order to transform air pollution into a commodity that is traded on futures markets.

Awards

  • Clifford Geertz Award for Best Article, 2009
  • Philip D. Shelton Prize for Outstanding Legal Education Research, 2009
  • Distinguished Book Prize, American Sociological Association, 1999
  • Louis Brownlow Book Award, National Academy of Public Administration, 1999
  • Fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 2013–14

Relevant Publications

  • Espeland, W., and M. Sauder. Fear of Falling: How Media Rankings Changed Legal Education in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press, 2015.

  • Espeland, W. The Struggle for Water: Politics, Rationality, and Identity in the American Southwest. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Institution

Northwestern University

Department

Department of Sociology

Education

  • PhD (Sociology), University of Chicago
  • MA (Sociology), Arizona State University
  • BSc (Sociology), Arizona State University

Country

United States

Support Us

CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.

Donate Now
CIFAR header logo

MaRS Centre, West Tower
661 University Ave., Suite 505
Toronto, ON M5G 1M1 Canada

Contact Us
Media
Careers
Accessibility Policies
Supporters
Financial Reports
Subscribe

  • © Copyright 2023 CIFAR. All Rights Reserved.
  • Charitable Registration Number: 11921 9251 RR0001
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap

Subscribe

Stay up to date on news & ideas from CIFAR.

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.
Accept Learn more