Princeton Sociologist Mitchell Duneier Wins the 2017 Zócalo Book Prize

Ghetto Investigates the History of a Word, a Place, and an Idea That Has Shaped Our Cities and Culture

Mitchell Duneier, author of Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea and a sociologist at Princeton University, is the winner of the seventh annual Zócalo Book Prize. Duneier traces the ghetto from its 16th-century origins—when the Jews of Venice, Italy were forced to live in il ghetto—to Nazi Germany and America today. Duneier shows how the idea of the ghetto has become unmoored from its history, and how the work of 21st-century social scientists can shine a light on the ways we understand, misunderstand, and try …

Can We Close the Empathy Gap?

Sixth Annual Zócalo Book Prize Winner Sherry Turkle Thinks We Can Learn How to Talk—and Connect—Again as Humans

Zócalo Publisher Gregory Rodriguez said he was terrified as he opened a discussion onstage at MOCA Grand Avenue with MIT’s Sherry Turkle.

It wasn’t, however, because he was moderating in front …

Have Emojis Replaced Emotions?

As the Digital Age Expands Our "Connections," We’re Losing the Value of Face-to-Face Relationships

What could be more human than conversation, and what better time than now to converse? The desire to connect is a powerful force, technology a mighty conduit.

Last month, when …

You, Too, Can Escape From Your Online Echo Chamber

Ethan Zuckerman, Winner of the Fourth Annual Zócalo Book Prize, On How We Can Use the Internet to Connect People Across Cultures and Work Together to Solve Tough Global Problems

The Fourth Annual Zócalo Public Square Book Prize was made possible by the generous support of the California Community Foundation.

We know globalization is happening. And we know we interact with …

Help, I’m Addicted to ‘Candy Crush Saga’!

We Can Shop, Game, and Ogle Vacation Pictures Online, But How Can the Internet Help Us Connect Better to Each Other?

The Internet has become a part of much of our daily lives—we can pay bills through online banking, comment on a friend’s vacation picture on Facebook, look at Google Maps’ …

The Mysteries of Our Connected Age

Rewire

The beginnings of the Iranian revolution in 1978 took Western intelligence forces by surprise. The CIA was watching palaces and barracks while unrest was brewing in mosques and homes that …