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Amin Ghaziani

Professor of Sociology

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Socius

January 2025

In my new article, co-authored with graduate student Andy Holmes, we show that LGBTQ+ people adopt multiple identity labels and adjust their usage relative to the interactional demands at hand. We call this outcome “situational fluidity.” The article is open access: free to read and share. Access it here.

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The Globe and Mail Op-Ed

July 2024

For the 2024 Pride season, I published an opinion-editorial essay in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. In “Last Dance for Queer Nightlife?,” I share how nightlife is shifting toward an infinite horizon of intentional inclusion. Read it here ($).

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Demography

July 2024

Amy Spring and I examine 2020 U.S. Census data and find that segregation trends for same-sex households has continued to decline. “New Evidence From Census 2020 on the Residential Segregation of Same-Sex Households: A Research Note.”

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British Journal of Sociology

July 2024

From colleagues to coeditors and coauthors – I’m delighted to share a new publication with Seth Abrutyn: “Renewal without replication: Expanding Durkheim’s theory of disruptions via queer nightlife.” Durkheim goes to his favorite gay bar only to find that it’s closed. Now where does he go…? This article is open access. 

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Mediapolis

July 2024

Delighted to announce my new publication in Mediapolis, an online and open-access journal about cities and culture. In “Emplaced Bars and Episodic Events,” I reflect on new nightlife forms. The article is part of a special issue on “New Directions in Queer Nightlife,” co-edited by Johan Andersson and Jamie Hakim.

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Social Problems

June 2024

My graduate student Tori and I advance an interactional framework for studying intersectional identities: “Retheorizing Intersectional Identities with the Study of Chinese LGBTQ+ Migrants.”

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NPR’s Marketplace Morning Report

June 2024

I had the pleasure of speaking on NPR’s Marketplace Morning Report, a program heard by 10 million weekly listeners across the United States. Sabri Ben-Achour is an excellent interviewer, who cut to the core of the issues in our sharp, 5 minute conversation. Listen to us chat about cultural and economic changes in queer nightlife.

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The Nation

June 2024

The Nation reviewed my book! Daniel Felsenthal writes, “The book feels like a satellite image of London at night, with far-flung parties gleaming mostly on the edges, bright nodes in a darkened expanse. Ghaziani renders a complex picture of how going out as a queer person is changing; his approach to the topic, at once…

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The New York Times Book Review

March 2024

The New York Times reviewed my book! “Ghaziani shines as an academic,” they say. Here’s more: “The sociologist Amin Ghaziani wants to turn a funeral into a party. . . . [I]n Long Live Queer Nightlife, Ghaziani makes the case that, though the shuttering of gay bars is sad, it prompted a renaissance for club nights, alternative…

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Pre-orders Available Now

December 2023

At long last, pre-orders of Long Live Queer Nightlife are now available directly through Princeton in hardback, as an ebook, and audiobook, featuring Amin El Gamal, the first openly queer Muslim actor to play a lead role in a television series (Prison Break).

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Library Journal: It’s a STAR!

December 2023

A pre-publication review of Long Live Queer Nightlife just dropped. LJ gave the book a starred distinction: “An accessible, absorbing look into an evolving form of queer culture, written by a brilliant sociologist.”

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Audiobook: Meet Amin El Gamal

November 2023

Amin & Amin: a doppelganger duo! My new book with Princeton, Long Live Queer Nightlife, will be narrated by Amin El Gamal (he/they), best known for his role in Prison Break, making him the first openly queer Muslim actor to play a leading role on television.

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Page proofs

July 2023

Page proofs for my new book, Long Live Queer Nightlife (Princeton), have arrived. How did the global closure of gay bars revolutionize underground nightlife scenes? The book comes out March 2024. Sign up with Princeton to be notified when preorders are available. See you on the dancefloor!

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Theory and Society

July 2023

My new article is out! Andy Holmes and I examine coming out of the closet, and how sexuality provides symbolic resources–“distinguishing but not defining”–in the service of crafting a modern sexual self. New in Theory and Society.

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Contexts Q&A

August 2022

Read an interview with Seth Abrutyn and me that we jointly gave to UBC Sociology about our new roles as co-editors of Contexts magazine.

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Co-Editor of Contexts Magazine

March 2022

I am delighted to have been appointed as Co-Editor (with Dr. Seth Abrutyn) of Contexts, the public-facing magazine of the American Sociological Association. Our term officially begins January 1, 2023. This is the first time that the magazine will be based in Canada. It will bring tremendous visibility for UBC Sociology, and incomparable professional opportunities…

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SSHRC and CIHR Grants

August 2021

I am involved in two different interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research teams, both of which have successfully secured major research grants. The first project, an Insight Grant funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, is for “Understanding Decisions to Seek Conversion Therapy in Canada” ($143,125, PI: Dr. Travis Salway). The second project, an Operating Grant…

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Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities

June 2021

I have been successfully renewed for a second term as a Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities. Fifteen UBC researchers were appointed as new and renewed CRCs in the most recent round of the competition. As stated on the announcement from UBC, the Canada Research Chairs Program is among the highest research designations in the…

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Keynote Address, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study

April 2021

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) has invited me to deliver a keynote address at its upcoming conference in June. I have been tasked to set the agenda for future interdisciplinary and international collaborations on “Studies of Belonging.” NIAS is the Netherlands’ only independent institute for advanced…

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The Street Empirics of Urban Sexualities

March 2021

I am delighted to announce my new publication, “Why Gayborhoods Matter: The Street Empirics of Urban Sexualities.” Urban scholars should listen closely to LGBTQ+ people, whose street-level experiences and interactions facilitate a more nuanced understanding of gayborhoods than the supra-individual patterns distilled by conventional approaches. In other words, the reasons that residents provide for why…

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People, Protest, and Place

March 2021

There is a vibrant literature on LGBTQ+ urban geographies, as well as established traditions in sociology and political science on collective action, but research infrequently brings these interdisciplinary fields of sexualities, social movements and urban studies together to explore the emplacement of LGBTQ+ urban activisms. In my new article in Urban Studies, I propose two ways to…

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2020 Distinguished Article Award

June 2020

My graduate student Ryan Stillwagon and I won the 2020 Distinguished Article Award (Honorable Mention) from the Sociology of Sexualities section of the American Sociological Association for “Queer Pop-Ups: A Cultural Innovation in Urban Life.”

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Top Cited Articles, 2018-2019 Award

January 2020

I’m delighted to receive two “Top Cited Article, 2018-2019” awards from Wiley publishing. My articles, “Performative Progressiveness: Accounting for New Forms of Inequality in the Gayborhood” (co-authored with my graduate student Adriana Brodyn) and “Cultural Archipelagos: New Directions in the Study of Sexuality and Space” were both published in City & Community – making them…

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Culture and the Nighttime Economy of London

November 2019

From 2006 to 2016, the number of LGBTQ bars, pubs, and nightclubs in London declined by 58%, falling from 125 venues to 53. In my new article, I explore the high closure rate of LGBTQ nighttime venues in London, and the city’s recognition of these venues’ intertwined economic and cultural significance. Available now on Metropolitics.

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Queer Pop-Ups

September 2019

My graduate student Ryan Stillwagon and I have just published our research in the journal City & Community. Our article is entitled “Queer Pop-Ups: A Cultural Innovation in Urban Life.” You can access the piece here.

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Imagining Queer Methods

August 2019

I am delighted to announce the publication of my new book, Imagining Queer Methods, with NYU Press.

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Social Forces

July 2019

My book, Sex Cultures, was reviewed in Social Forces. Dustin Kidd from Temple University writes, “What sort of a book is Sex Cultures? While it is constructed very differently from the author’s previous monographs, I cannot rightly say this is not a monograph unto itself. It offers original arguments and analysis, and it is based significantly on fieldwork,…

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Greetings from the Gayborhood–And Beyond

June 2019

I’ve always admired Next City, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating pathways toward more equitable and sustainable urban futures. I was thrilled when the editor invited me to pen a piece based on my new research on cultural archipelagos. Here it is, in time to kick off Pride month: Greetings from the Gayborhood–And Beyond.

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Trailblazers 2019

June 2019

The City of Vancouver has recognized me as a “trailblazer” for my work on queer urban spaces. Read the interview that I gave to the Georgia Straight.

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Imagining Queer Methods – Endorsements

May 2019

My co-editor Matt Brim and I have received stellar endorsements for our forthcoming book Imagining Queer Methods. Here’s what some of the top scholars in queer studies have to say: “For those working in the areas of queer theory or queer studies, we know that the question of something called ‘queer methods’ or ‘queer methodologies’ is a long-standing and…

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Full Professor

April 2019

I received a letter from the President of UBC informing me that I have been promoted to a full professor. President Ono writes, “It gives me great pleasure to inform you that I have reviewed your dossier and have determined that you will be promoted to the rank of Professor, effective July 1, 2019. I…

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New Video on Cultural Archipelagos

April 2019

I have produced a video to correspond to my new research on “Cultural Archipelagos,” the trend of queer spaces becoming more diverse and more plural. The video is available on the main page of City & Community and on Vimeo as well.

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Special Symposium in City & Community

March 2019

I am the lead essay in a special symposium on “Queer Urbanisms” that was recently published in City & Community, the official journal of the community and urban sociology section of the ASA. My piece is entitled “Cultural Archipelagos: New Directions for the Study of Sexuality and Space.” I invited four leading scholars to respond to…

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Killam Research Prize

February 2019

I am delighted to announce that I have been awarded a Killam Research Prize for “outstanding research and scholarly contributions.” It is one of the highest research awards given to faculty across all departments and all disciplines at the university.  Winners are selected by the Faculty Research Award Committee, which spans arts and humanities, business,…

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British Journal of Sociology

November 2018

My latest book, Sex Cultures, was recently reviewed in the British Journal of Sociology. Eric Anderson from the University of Winchester writes, “In Sex Cultures, sociologist Amin Ghaziani provides a smart, engaging and accessible introduction to thinking about sex in society. He begins with the premise that sexuality is the sum of ‘sex plus culture’, and proceeds…

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The Conversation

September 2018

My three graduate students and I co-authored an essay in The Conversation about the emergence of “queer pop-ups,” or ephemeral community spaces that challenge arguments about the decline of queer sociality in North America. Our essay is entitled, “Queer Pop-Ups Take Us Beyond the Gayborhood.” Click here to read it.

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Los Angeles Times

June 2018

I published an op-ed in the Sunday edition of the LA Times. The piece is entitled, “What we really mean when we talk about acceptance of gay people.” Click here to read it.

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Discrimination in the Gayborhood

June 2018

My graduate student Adriana Brodyn and I published our article in the journal City & Community. Entitled “Performative Progressiveness: Accounting for New Forms of Inequality in the Gayborhood,” we explore how public opinions that show a liberalization in attitudes toward homosexuality actually conceal subtle forms of prejudice and discrimination among straight residents of urban gay districts.…

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Queer Pop-Ups

April 2018

I am delighted to announce the publication of “Queer Pop-Ups,” my new essay that I co-authored with my graduate student Ryan Stillwagon. We explore the temporary spaces of queer community-building and argue that they provide cultural innovations in urban nightlife. You can access the research under the “Articles” tab.

Continue Reading Queer Pop-Ups

Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE

January 2018

I have been invited as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK for the Winter 2018 semester. I’ll be affiliated with the Urbanisation, Planning, and Development Cluster in the Department of Geography.

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for articles previous to 2017, please visit my news archive

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