Annual Symposium · Theory Section
Junior Theorists Symposium 2026
RSVPFriday, August 7, 2026 · 9:00 am – 5:30 pm EST
Institute for Public Knowledge, NYU · 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
The 20th Junior Theorists Symposium (JTS) program is now live. The JTS is a conference featuring the work of emerging sociologists engaged in theoretical work, broadly defined. Sponsored in part by the Theory Section of the ASA, the conference has provided a platform for the work of early-career sociologists since 2005.
RSVP is required to enter the building. No ASA registration required to attend JTS.
This year’s symposium is organized by Selen Güler (CUNY Graduate Center) and Tania Aparicio (Teachers College, Columbia University). You can contact them at juniortheorists@gmail.com with any questions.
JTS 2026 Program
9:00 – 10:30 am · Panel One: Institutional Politics
Discussant: Josh Pacewicz, Brown University
Livio Silva-Muller (Harvard University), “Jurisdictional Hedging: How Lawyers and Bureaucrats Insulate Policy from State Dismantlers”
Terrence Chen (New York University), “The Fiscalization of Politics: Fiscal Responsibility as a Governance Repertoire, 1921–2024”
Ahmed Mori (Johns Hopkins University), “Shoring the Cracks: The Interstitial Politics of Institutional Alternatives”
10:45 am – 12:15 pm · Panel Two: Structures of Difference
Discussant: Ali Meghji, Cambridge University
Margot Lurie (University of Chicago), “Electricity, Waste, and the “Other”: Infrastructural Racialization in the Electrification of the American West, 1902–1933”
Hannah Judson (Stony Brook University), “The Moral Affordances of Public Policy for Racial Reparations in the United States”
Aabid Firdausi (Johns Hopkins University), “Indeterminate Futures: Towards a Sociology of the Contemporary Polycrisis in the Global South”
1:15 – 2:15 pm · Keynote
Yuchen Yang, University of Birmingham — Winner of the 2025 Junior Theorist Award
2:30 – 4:00 pm · Panel Three: Evaluation and Intermediaries
Discussant: Ashley Mears, University of Amsterdam
Katherine V. Beekman (Vanderbilt University), “Hit-Making on Defense: How Market Intermediaries Navigate Decentralization”
AJ Alvero (Cornell University), “The Misreading of Man: Readability, Intelligence, and Language Ideologies”
Olivia Steiert (The New School for Social Research), “1.5 to Stay Alive? (Un)Making Sense with Numbers”
4:00 – 5:30 pm · Closing Panel: Data as Theory, Theory as Data
Allison Pugh (Johns Hopkins University)
Tukufu Zuberi (University of Pennsylvania)
Theresa Rocha Beardall (University of Washington)
Ian Kennedy (University of Illinois Chicago)
5:30 pm · Mixer at Von Bar
Support JTS
DonateTo support the continued success of this annual tradition, we invite attendees to contribute through voluntary donations, which help cover costs such as lunch, coffee, and snacks.
We suggest the following donation amounts: $15 (Graduate Students & Postdocs), $25 (Faculty).
The ASA Theory Section is helping us collect donations for JTS. Please make a donation using the link below, for Donation Name “Theory – Annual Meeting Other.” All funds collected through this link will be used for JTS only. Any surplus will carry over to future years.