Caleb StricklandGraduate Student
Degrees
General Research Areas
- Du Boisian Sociology
- Racialized Subjectivity
- Social Psychology
- Status Inequality
- Group Processes
- Sociology of Culture
- Qualitative Methods
Current Research
As a Du Boisian sociologist and social psychologist, my research examines how identity, culture, and meaning intersect to organize everyday life. I am broadly concerned with how actors interpret their social worlds, how these interpretations produce collective evaluations, and how such evaluations influence desires for change. By bridging Du Boisian thought with social psychological perspectives, I aim to illuminate how racialized subjectivities and cultural meanings structure social life—even in contexts that appear informal or apolitical.
My current research centers on the Atlanta Kiki Ballroom Scene, in which I analyze how processes of consecration, status, and legitimacy unfold in a scene context where there is no organizational authority. Through qualitative and historical methods, this work investigates (1) how, over time, recognition and value are collectively constructed, and (2) how participants negotiate the legitimacy of the status hierarchy in a context operating beyond traditional organizational boundaries. This project forms part of a broader research agenda that aims to theorize “scenes” as critical sites for understanding how group processes and social order emerge in the absence of formal structures.
In addition to this work, my developing dissertation project turns attention to the sociology of fun. This research explores the role of racialized subjectivity in shaping both the experience and organization of fun. I am particularly interested in how historical patterns of racial inequality have structured access to and expectations of fun, producing distinct racialized ways of feeling, performing, and interpreting enjoyment in the United States. My project asks not only what kinds of fun people anticipate for themselves, but also what kinds of fun they believe others expect them to have. It further considers who must be included or excluded for fun to occur, and how such boundaries reproduce broader hierarchies of belonging. Taken together, this work investigates how the Color Line persists even in worlds of fun.
