Benny Witkovsky

Podcasts | American Sociological Association Each month, several authors of articles published in ASA journals record podcasts in which they provide, through an interview format, an overview of their

Katherine Jensen, @bwitkovsky.bsky.social, and Monika Krause's article, “Human Rights as a Lay Category of Thought,” was the featured Socius article in the ASA Journals Newsletter. Listen to the accompanying podcast about the article here. www.asanet.org/publications...
@asanews.bsky.social

As Jess says, @sadiemdempsey.bsky.social’s incredible work on the social and emotional dimensions of political participation is going to be critical to rebuilding our movements going forward!

Fascinating work in the WWI era on the weaponization of this new nonpartisanship. Nonpartisanship is a "capacious category and can be exploited by different actors."

@uwsoc.bsky.social team @bwitkovsky.bsky.social and Carter Burg present on the production of nonpartisanship in Prog Era Wisc. Benny's dissertation sheds even more light on how "nonpartisan local governance was always the product of political parties, partisan conflict, and partisan institutions."

Another outstanding @asapolisoc.bsky.social panel on Electoral Politics. #asa2025

How Communities Can Respond to Threats of Political Violence Left unchecked, political violence will continue to pose a significant danger to community safety and the health of America’s democracy.

In the aftermath of the Minnesota attacks, how can communities respond to the growing threat of political violence? @samajones.bsky.social and Roudabeh Kishi offer a range of ideas, from expanding access to security funding to collaborative threat monitoring

www.justsecurity.org/114944/minne...

"But I egress."

Cooperation agreements between Wisconsin Counties and ICE have nearly doubled since Trump's second inauguration. (In other news, I'm learning how to use Tableau).

💬 How do people think about #HumanRights?

New #Socius research by Drs. Jensen, Krause, and @bwitkovsky.bsky.social finds #freedom of speech as a cognitive prototype, with civil & political rights leading in the U.S.

Key insights for #CognitiveSociology: doi.org/10.1177/2378...

Interesting article on the perceptions of human rights. Studying the meanings of human rights for ordinary individuals is absolutely necessary for transnational advocacy.

Human Rights as a Lay Category of Thought: Content and Structure in the United States - Katherine Jensen, Monika Krause, Benjamin Witkovsky, 2025 What are human rights? Although legal scholars point to a growing list of international entitlements, social scientists have highlighted underlying ideological ...

New publication out today in @sociusjournal.bsky.social! In " Human Rights as a Lay Category of Thought," Katherine Jensen, Monika Krause, and I map how the American public think about what counts as a human right. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Congratulations!

Thanks! I can definitely share something as we get closer!

So happy this paper accepted to ASA! Get ready to hear all about a 1912 special election for Racine City Council and Progressive Era conflicts over nonpartisanship!

Working with Wisconsin Humanities the last few years has been such an honor. I don't know another organization with such deep commitments to serving, representing, and sharing the stories of every community in our state. Defunding humanities councils is such a self-destructive move.

Election data from WI Legislative Technology Services Bureau has demographic data in it. Not exactly sure how good it is, but its a good place to start: gis-ltsb.hub.arcgis.com/pages/downlo...

I am thrilled to share that I’ve accepted a position as the Wisconsin State Lead/Senior Research Specialist at the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University. Feeling incredibly lucky to get to do this work while still living in and serving the state that I love!

My recent paper provides a particular lens on the upcoming local elections in Wisconsin. Candidates for county office must contend with the increasing polarization between their rural and urban constituents.

Cities and Their Neighbors: Examining the Rural–Urban Divide on a Local Scale - Benny Witkovsky, 2025 In recent years, the rural–urban divide has become one of the defining features of American partisan politics. Usually conceptualized as a regional phenomenon, ...

Benny Witkovsky (@bwitkovsky.bsky.social) published "Cities and Their Neighbors: Examining Rural-Urban Polarization on A Local Scale" in @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

I start my Soc of Race classes asking students whether UW Madison "feels" diverse (a question I stole from @pamelaoliver.bsky.social). At 68% white, UW is by far the most racially mixed institution many in WI will encounter. That's why it can be the target of so much anti-DEI fear-mongering.

I have a paper with a whole section about backyard chickens and performative conservative politics! It checks so many boxes for the new conservative coalition: libertarianism (keep gov inspectors off my land), MAHA (don't trust store bought eggs), trad gender roles and self sufficiency.

Every once in a while I end up at a hotel breakfast without the toddler and eat so many berries.

Just submitted a paper to ASA co-authored with an undergrad and they were SO excited. Definitely the energy I needed this week.

Wisconsin’s Primary Problem Wisconsin’s nonpartisan primary is tomorrow. Like most February elections, it will be incredibly quiet. According to the Madison City Clerk, just 9,000 people have voted absentee in Madison s…

It's election day in Wisconsin! I'm thinking today about all of the races that won't be on the ballot. Only a small fraction of local elections require a primary because no one runs for local office. That is a real threat to the health of local government: bennywitkovsky.com/2025/02/17/w...

We lost my mom’s partner this weekend. The Cap Times wrote a bit today about the legacy he leaves for Wisconsin, law, and politics.

Wisconsin’s Primary Problem Wisconsin’s nonpartisan primary is tomorrow. Like most February elections, it will be incredibly quiet. According to the Madison City Clerk, just 9,000 people have voted absentee in Madison s…

Tomorrow are Wisconsin's nonpartisan primaries--sort of. Across Wisconsin cities, only 1 in 9 city council and mayors races require a primary. Check out my latest on how the lack of primaries threatens the nature of nonpartisanship: bennywitkovsky.com/2025/02/17/w...

This is one of my big questions for local government in the Trump Era. Many local governments now face deep internal divisions. Which sheriffs, mayors, school boards, etc. resist federal government demands and which capitulate will, I suspect, be shaped by this local geographic polarization.

I'm so grateful to everyone who helped me with this paper over the years, and to the Urban Affairs Review editorial team who have been so supportive. It took a long time for this paper to find a home, but I'm so happy about where it landed!

Today most Wisconsin cities, no matter how small, are surrounded by communities that are far more conservative. This has a profound impact on local government. Cities can't make policies if their neighbors will undermine them. Cities can be overwhelmed and outnumbered in county governments.

In the early 1990s, the cites and rural communities of the average Wisconsin county voted nearly identically. Today, there is a 14-point gap between them. In the 1990s, Democrats overperformed in rural communities if half of Wisconsin counties, today that is true almost nowhere.