Mike DeLand
@mfdeland.bsky.social
Sociologist @ Gonzaga, urban ethnographer, interactionist, writing a book on playground hoops and public space
A place is a self fulfilling prophecy. Urban real estate tycoons used to know this when they sold bold visions of a place to the opposite end of 1000 mile railroad line
Downtown business leaders’ hyperbolic reaction is what might deter customers, not the fact of the parking tax itself. I wrote about this phenomenon, in which these leaders are their own worst enemies, for the @inlander.com here:
November 18, 2025 at 6:01 AM
A place is a self fulfilling prophecy. Urban real estate tycoons used to know this when they sold bold visions of a place to the opposite end of 1000 mile railroad line
I understand downtown business leaders fears about parking taxes. But I think they also lose sight of the fact that surface parking saps the life out of downtown. Empty dead space makes it an unappealing place to go, stroll, mingle, and.... spend.
Downtown Spokane community responds to proposed 12% parking tax
Business leaders spoke out Monday night in opposition to a proposed 12% commercial parking tax under consideration by the Spokane City Council.
www.spokesman.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I understand downtown business leaders fears about parking taxes. But I think they also lose sight of the fact that surface parking saps the life out of downtown. Empty dead space makes it an unappealing place to go, stroll, mingle, and.... spend.
Reposted by Mike DeLand
It’s so funny that for the past week republicans have all been like “the only people out there are gonna be Hamas.” Everyone in this crowd is signed up for Kohl’s rewards points.
“This is what democracy looks like.”
“This is what America looks like.”
NYC
“This is what America looks like.”
NYC
October 18, 2025 at 10:12 PM
It’s so funny that for the past week republicans have all been like “the only people out there are gonna be Hamas.” Everyone in this crowd is signed up for Kohl’s rewards points.
Reposted by Mike DeLand
Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Reposted by Mike DeLand
Qualitative Sociology honors the life of Bob Emerson with a special tribute in our latest issue. Bob was a dedicated ethnographer and one of the discipline's greatest teachers, training generations of students in the craft of field research. [1/2]
October 11, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Qualitative Sociology honors the life of Bob Emerson with a special tribute in our latest issue. Bob was a dedicated ethnographer and one of the discipline's greatest teachers, training generations of students in the craft of field research. [1/2]
Dude thinks that he sounds sophisticated by mixing the word lethality with JV sports clichés
Hegseth: "Maximum lethality -- not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We're gonna raise up warriors. Not just defenders."
September 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Dude thinks that he sounds sophisticated by mixing the word lethality with JV sports clichés
It was an honor to be part of a tribute to my late professor Bob Emerson in the latest issue of Qualitative Sociology. Bob was a humble and kind man, a clear thinker, and a rigorous and incisive ethnographer. The tribute was organized by Bob's student Leslie Paik.
Tribute to Robert M. Emerson - Qualitative Sociology
This special section honors and reflects upon the legacy of Robert M. Emerson, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who passed away on December 18, 2023...
link.springer.com
August 19, 2025 at 10:10 PM
It was an honor to be part of a tribute to my late professor Bob Emerson in the latest issue of Qualitative Sociology. Bob was a humble and kind man, a clear thinker, and a rigorous and incisive ethnographer. The tribute was organized by Bob's student Leslie Paik.
Spreading the word again for TT job call in #criminology and #sociology at Gonzaga. And when class is over come wander Spokane’s magical flower gardens.
August 19, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Spreading the word again for TT job call in #criminology and #sociology at Gonzaga. And when class is over come wander Spokane’s magical flower gardens.
Reposted by Mike DeLand
I was just in Spokane this weekend, and it is beautiful there. I also ate really excellent frybread (from Indigenous Eats).
Oh, and there's a sociology job there at Gonzaga!
Oh, and there's a sociology job there at Gonzaga!
The sociology & criminology dept at gonzaga is hiring! We're searching for somebody with a focus on criminology, law, or social control (broadly conceived).
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology - Gonzaga Main Campus, Washington, United States
Title: Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology
Area: College of Arts and Sciences
Department: Sociology and Criminology
Telework Availability: On-campus Position
Employee Classification: Tenure...
employment.gonzaga.edu
July 31, 2025 at 12:32 AM
I was just in Spokane this weekend, and it is beautiful there. I also ate really excellent frybread (from Indigenous Eats).
Oh, and there's a sociology job there at Gonzaga!
Oh, and there's a sociology job there at Gonzaga!
The sociology & criminology dept at gonzaga is hiring! We're searching for somebody with a focus on criminology, law, or social control (broadly conceived).
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology - Gonzaga Main Campus, Washington, United States
Title: Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology
Area: College of Arts and Sciences
Department: Sociology and Criminology
Telework Availability: On-campus Position
Employee Classification: Tenure...
employment.gonzaga.edu
July 30, 2025 at 10:44 PM
The sociology & criminology dept at gonzaga is hiring! We're searching for somebody with a focus on criminology, law, or social control (broadly conceived).
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
July 18, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Really good piece on the importance of liberal arts education. Well rounded higher ed is so key protecting against a future susceptible to the ravages of disinformation, fascism.
Opinion | I’m Watching the Sacrifice of College’s Soul
www.nytimes.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Really good piece on the importance of liberal arts education. Well rounded higher ed is so key protecting against a future susceptible to the ravages of disinformation, fascism.
Great piece on the changing shape of the US hoop dream and why that has produced more NBA player's kids in the NBA. @kang.bsky.social
Heir Ball: How the Cost of Youth Sports Is Changing the N.B.A.
Pro sports have long seemed like the closest thing we have to a true meritocracy. But maybe not anymore.
www.newyorker.com
June 27, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Great piece on the changing shape of the US hoop dream and why that has produced more NBA player's kids in the NBA. @kang.bsky.social
History of Chavez Ravine comes full circle
June 19, 2025 at 6:40 PM
History of Chavez Ravine comes full circle
Happy pride and no kings day in Spokane, WA. Many thousands turned out in a purple city of 220K.
June 15, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Happy pride and no kings day in Spokane, WA. Many thousands turned out in a purple city of 220K.
Right. As soon as campaign season was over, the definition of crime became existing here without documents. Or with documents that the administration prefers not to respect.
You can't do a "mass deportation of criminals" there aren't that many. And doing "mass deportation" means you're redirecting resources that WOULD be used to catch people who have committed crimes to deport families and workers. bsky.app/profile/mtsw...
"why isn't ICE focusing on criminals?!"
Having ICE focus on criminals for deportation was already the policy of the Biden Administration. That's the thing that was happening that Trump decried as "open borders." Trump promised to change that to "mass deportation now" and deport indiscriminately
Having ICE focus on criminals for deportation was already the policy of the Biden Administration. That's the thing that was happening that Trump decried as "open borders." Trump promised to change that to "mass deportation now" and deport indiscriminately
June 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Right. As soon as campaign season was over, the definition of crime became existing here without documents. Or with documents that the administration prefers not to respect.
This looks so great! I think people tend to think of LA's suburbs as homogenous, white, and wealthy. They've probably never been to Antelope Valley. I'm excited to go there with Rahim.
It's publication day for Indefensible Spaces: Policing and the Struggle for Housing, available in paper & free .epub! It traces a century of struggle over Los Angeles' periphery, culminating in the use of policing to expel and repress Black tenants. Here's a look at its chapters:
June 12, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This looks so great! I think people tend to think of LA's suburbs as homogenous, white, and wealthy. They've probably never been to Antelope Valley. I'm excited to go there with Rahim.
Reposted by Mike DeLand
Grabbed it for $16. Can't wait to read one of my favorite ethnographer's foray into fiction writing.
It's pub day for @jonwynn.bsky.social! We spoke with the @umassamherst.bsky.social sociologist about writing, character-building, and just how much sociology he smuggled into his highly anticipated debut novel, The Set Up, out today @beltpublishing.bsky.social! contexts.org/blog/novel-sociology/
May 20, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Grabbed it for $16. Can't wait to read one of my favorite ethnographer's foray into fiction writing.
LOVE LEARNING. DO IT NOW OR ELSE
watching faculty applaud calls for universities to more harshly punish student absences while in the same breath complaining about their own low attendance despite already penalizing their students for not coming to class, almost as if strictly punitive measures aren't the way forward on this
May 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
LOVE LEARNING. DO IT NOW OR ELSE
Is it just me or does Hegseth say the word “lethality” every other sentence?
April 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Is it just me or does Hegseth say the word “lethality” every other sentence?
Reposted by Mike DeLand
INCREDIBLE opinion by Wilkinson refusing to stay Judge Xinis's orders in the Abrego Garcia case, condemning DOJ's arguments as "shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
April 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
INCREDIBLE opinion by Wilkinson refusing to stay Judge Xinis's orders in the Abrego Garcia case, condemning DOJ's arguments as "shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
prosperity gospel for MAGA
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a sitting member of Congress who is worth many millions of dollars, posted a birthday message for her son—along with a link to his Venmo account, encouraging her supporters to send him money.
This comes at a time of significant economic uncertainty in the United States.
This comes at a time of significant economic uncertainty in the United States.
April 6, 2025 at 3:04 AM
prosperity gospel for MAGA
If I understand correctly Trader Joe’s is ripping me off because they sell me tortillas and cheese but never buy the quesadillas I make.
April 4, 2025 at 4:42 PM
If I understand correctly Trader Joe’s is ripping me off because they sell me tortillas and cheese but never buy the quesadillas I make.