Omar Lizardo

University of California, Los Angeles, Sociology, Faculty Member

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I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brooklyn College in 1997. Starting in 2000, I enrolled in the graduate sociology program at Arizona where I was fortunate to earn a Ph.D. in 2006 under the supervision and mentorship of Ron Breiger and Al Bergesen. I had the privilege to spend the first twelve years of my academic career in the Department of Sociology at Notre Dame, where I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2012, and to Full Professor in 2016. I'm currently the LeRoy Nieman Term Chair Professor in the Department of Sociology at UCLA. My areas of research interest are cognitive social science, cultural sociology, the sociology of consumption, network science, social psychology, and social theory.
Phone: 3102675438
Address: UCLA, Department of Sociology
375 Portola Plaza
264 Haines Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095

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Papers by Omar Lizardo

Max Weber’s ideal versus material interest distinction revisited

European Journal of Social Theory, Jun 6, 2017

While Weber's distinction between 'ideal' and 'material' interests is one of the most enduring as... more While Weber's distinction between 'ideal' and 'material' interests is one of the most enduring aspects of his theoretical legacy, it has been subjected to little critical commentary. In this article, we revisit the theoretical legacy of interest-based explanation in social theory, with an eye to clarifying Weber's place in this tradition. We then reconsider extant critical commentary on the ideal/material interest distinction, noting the primarily Parsonian rendering of Weber and the unproductive allegiance to 'generic need' readings of Weber's action theory. We reconstruct the basis of the ideal/material interest distinction in the work of Rudolph von Ihering and provide a sounder basis for its analytic role in Weber's 'grand' project.

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The mutual specification of genres and audiences: Reflective two-mode centralities in person-to-culture data

Poetics, Jun 1, 2018

Recent developments at the intersection of cultural sociology and network theory suggest that the... more Recent developments at the intersection of cultural sociology and network theory suggest that the relations between persons and the cultural forms they consume can be productively analyzed using conceptual resources and methods adapted from network analysis. In this paper, I seek to contribute to this developing line of thinking on the culture-networks link as it pertains to the sociology of taste. I present a general analytic and measurement framework useful for rethinking traditional survey (or population) based data on individuals and their cultural choices as a two mode persons × genres network. The proposed methodological tools allow me to develop a set of "reflective" metrics useful for ranking both persons and genres in terms of the pattern of choices and audience composition embedded in the cultural network. The empirical analysis shows that these metrics have both face and criterion validity, allowing us to extract useful information that would remain out of reach of standard quantitative strategies. I close by outlining the analytic and substantive implications of the approach.

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How C Cultural T Tastes S Shape P Personal N Networks

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Bourdieu, Distinction, and Aesthetic Consumption

The Oxford Handbook of Consumption, 2018

This chapter argues that rather than being focused on the higher levels of consumption of aesthet... more This chapter argues that rather than being focused on the higher levels of consumption of aesthetic goods on the part of the educated class, Pierre Bourdieu’s main hypothesis in Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste was concerned with how differences in class fractions as defined by total educational endowment (parental and individual) predict the extent to which individuals consume more artistically legitimate versus less artistically legitimate cultural forms. This argument leads naturally to Bourdieu’s understanding of the difference between the consumption styles of the educated (and less educated) classes as built from his understanding of differences in the formative experiences of different classes. The chapter develops the implications of this for contemporary debates regarding a more illuminating explanation of the omnivore taste phenomenon and other forms of aestheticized consumption.

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The mutual specification of genres and audiences: Reflective two-mode centralities in person-to-culture data

Poetics, 2018

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Analytical Sociology's Superfluous Revolution

Sociologia, 2012

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The Effect of Economic and Cultural Globalization on Anti-U.S. Transnational Terrorism 19712000*

Journal of World-Systems Research, 2006

The events of 9/11 have rekindled interest in the social sciences concerning the global factors r... more The events of 9/11 have rekindled interest in the social sciences concerning the global factors responsible for transnational terrorism. Two opposing frameworks currently dominate the scene: proponents of a destructive globalization approach argue that processes related to the transnationalization of capital produce native resistance in the more economically disadvantaged areas of the globe that is manifested as transnational terrorist attacks, especially against the U.S., civilizing globalization arguments point to precisely the opposite effect: economic globalization through the spread of markets and material goods brings with it prosperity and higher living standards, thus defusing the motivation to engage in high-risk political violence. In this paper, I propose an additional framework that goes beyond the narrow realism of the destructive globalization and civilizing globalization perspectives by examining the role of the globalization of world culture in theproduction of a...

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Defining and Theorizing Terrorism: A Global Actor-Centered Approach

Journal of World-Systems Research, 2008

Arriving at a consensual definition of the phenomenon of terrorism has been a particularly diffic... more Arriving at a consensual definition of the phenomenon of terrorism has been a particularly difficult undertaking. Some definitions are either too specific or too vague, concentrating on some essential terrorist aspect of the actions, strategies, or types of non-state organizations that engage in terrorism. In this paper I draw on global approaches from international relations and world systems theories to propose a definition of terrorism that skirts these issues by concentrating on terrorist actors rather than terrorist behavior. I argue that this approach has several advantages, including the dissolution of several empirical and analytical problems produced by more essentialist definitions, and the location of terrorism within a two dimensional continuum of collective-violence phenomena in the international system which discloses important theoretical insights. I proceed to examine the characteristics of terrorism by comparing it with other forms of violence in the international...

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Culture, Cognition and Embodiment

International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2015

This article was originally published in the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behaviora... more This article was originally published in the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non-commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who you know, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.

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Beyond the Comtean Schema: The Sociology of Culture and Cognition Versus Cognitive Social Science

Sociological Forum, 2014

In this essay, I argue that the very form of the grammatical construction “a sociology of culture... more In this essay, I argue that the very form of the grammatical construction “a sociology of culture and cognition” (which is a specification of the more general schema “a sociology of [X]”) is symptomatic of a deeply entrenched form of “Primitive Classification” (which I will refer to as the “Comtean schema”) that governs the way in which sociologists conceive of their place in, and engage with other denizens of, the social science landscape. I will also argue that while this style of disciplinary engagement might have worked in the past when it came to dealing with the standard (nineteenth‐century) social science disciplines and even some late‐twentieth‐century upstarts, it will not work as a way to engage the now‐sprawling postdisciplinary field that I will refer to as “Cognitive Social Science” (CSS). The takeaway point is that if sociologists want to be part of CSS (and it is in their interest to be part of it because this constitutes the future of the behavioral sciences), then t...

Cultural Correlates of Ego-Network Closure

Sociological Perspectives, 2011

In this paper, the author extends and further develops research and theory on the relationship be... more In this paper, the author extends and further develops research and theory on the relationship between cultural taste and social networks by examining the effects of strength of preference in different cultural domains on the relative closure of personal networks. The results show that as the number of strong preferences held by an individual increases, so do the chances that any two of his or her personal discussion network are connected to one another. In contrast, holding a larger number of weaker preferences results in personal discussion networks characterized by the presence of “structural holes.” The author closes by pointing to the theoretical implications of these results.

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Is a “Special Psychology” of Practice Possible?

Theory & Psychology, 2009

Traditional theories of culture and socialization in the social and behavioral sciences have conc... more Traditional theories of culture and socialization in the social and behavioral sciences have concentrated on how attitudes and values come to be “internalized” and thus shared by members of a collectivity. The emergence of practice theory challenges the classical theory of socialization and acculturation by shifting the focus of analysis away from explicit symbolic representations and towards tacit, motor-schematic procedures. In this paper I argue that even as they reject the traditional object of older socialization-based accounts, most practice theorists continue to operate with the same outmoded theory of socialization and acculturation inherited from classical sociology. I use Wacquant’s (2004) “carnal ethnography” of becoming a boxer to outline an alternative approach—grounded in recent research in cognitive neuroscience—which provides a more adequate explanation of how practices come to be acquired and transmitted from person to person.

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The puzzle of women's “highbrow” culture consumption: Integrating gender and work into Bourdieu's class theory of taste

Poetics, 2006

The fact that women are more likely than men to participate in traditional high status leisure ac... more The fact that women are more likely than men to participate in traditional high status leisure activities constitutes one of the most consistent findings in the empirical study of cultural choice. Most explanations of this phenomenon point to the role of early socialization and society-wide cultural norms, but surprisingly, the more proximate influence of labor force participation and embeddedness in gendered occupational cultures has not been empirically explored. In this paper I fill this gap in the cultural participation and gender literature by asking whether extent of involvement in the labor force mediates the gender gap in highbrow consumption. I follow in considering the relative usefulness of arts-related culture at work as an important determinant of individual taste patterns. Further, I show how Bourdieu's own theory of class fractions is compatible with Erickson's emphasis on highbrow devaluation as a byproduct of the pragmatism of workplace "business culture". In tandem with an eye toward gender dynamics, this modified Erickson-Bourdieu perspective can then be used to solve the puzzle of the gender difference in highbrow consumption.

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Fight Club, or the Cultural Contradictions of Late Capitalism

Journal for Cultural Research, 2007

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Pierre Bourdieu as a Post-cultural Theorist

Cultural Sociology, 2011

Pierre Bourdieu is without doubt one of the main figures in the sociological study of culture tod... more Pierre Bourdieu is without doubt one of the main figures in the sociological study of culture today. Yet, for a theorist so central to the subject matter of cultural studies, it is clear that there is no coherent account of Bourdieu stance in relation to the ‘concept of culture’ among current commentators. More importantly, in the sister-discipline of anthropology, Bourdieu is thought of as a central figure precisely because he helped move contemporary anthropological theory away from the centrality of the culture concept. This paper reviews this peculiar double reception of Bourdieu’s anthropological and sociological work, closely examining these unacknowledged strands of Bourdieu’s thinking on culture. The basic argument is that the anthropological reception of Bourdieu’s work is more faithful to the outlines of his late-career intellectual development while the sociological portrayal — Bourdieu as a Sausserean culture theorist with a ‘Weberian power twist’— is fundamentally misle...

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Measuring Culture

Columbia University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2019

Generators or diffusers? Examining differences in the dynamic coupling of context and social ties across multiple types of foci

Social Networks, Feb 1, 2022

Clustering in a newly forming social network by subjective perceptions of loneliness

Journal of American College Health, Sep 2, 2020

OBJECTIVES To determine whether first-year college students cluster in networks based on subjecti... more OBJECTIVES To determine whether first-year college students cluster in networks based on subjective perceptions of loneliness. Participants: 492 first-year Notre Dame students completed surveys across two semesters and provided communication data used to reconstruct their social networks. Methods: Subjective perceptions of loneliness are measured using the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA). Correlations between an individual's loneliness and the average loneliness of their alters are compared to associations in random networks created using a rewiring algorithm to determine statistical significance. Results: During their first semester, students are more likely than chance to form ties with other students with similar levels of family and romantic loneliness. In their second semester, students cluster on romantic loneliness but not on family or social loneliness. Conclusions: Students are more likely than chance to form ties with people with similar self-perceived levels of loneliness, but only for certain types of loneliness and during certain periods.

Using big data to examine the effect of urbanism on social networks

Journal of Urban Affairs, Dec 20, 2018

Sociological theories suggest that urban life affects human sociability in negative ways. People ... more Sociological theories suggest that urban life affects human sociability in negative ways. People in urban areas are expected to have fewer and weaker ties than those in rural areas. Rural areas should have proportionally more local ties, whereas urban areas have stronger nonlocal ties. We test these hypotheses using comprehensive large-scale data from a mobile phone company in Spain. We examine urban and rural differences in terms of the average number of ties and the composition and strength of local vs. nonlocal ties of subscribers in 6,124 postal codes. Consistent with urbanism theories, networks in more urban areas are smaller but the effect is weak. What is more pronounced are urban-rural differences in the composition and strength of local and nonlocal ties. There is a tradeoff between strength and number of ties. In urban places where local ties are weaker, there are more such ties, whereas in rural places where local ties are stronger, there are fewer local ties. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the results.

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Physical Activity Trend eXtraction: A Framework for Extracting Moderate-Vigorous Physical Activity Trends From Wearable Fitness Tracker Data (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) offers extensive health benefits but is neg... more BACKGROUND Moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) offers extensive health benefits but is neglected by many. As a result, a wide body of research investigating physical activity behavior change has been conducted. As many of these studies transition from paper-based methods of MVPA data collection to fitness trackers, a series of challenges arise in extracting insights from these new data. OBJECTIVE The objective of this research was to develop a framework for preprocessing and extracting MVPA trends from wearable fitness tracker data to support MVPA behavior change studies. METHODS Using heart rate data collected from fitness trackers, we propose Physical Activity Trend eXtraction (PATX), a framework that imputes missing data, recalculates personalized target heart zones, and extracts MVPA trends. We tested our framework on a dataset of 123 college study participants observed across 2 academic years (18 months) using Fitbit Charge HRs. To demonstrate the value of our frameworks’ output in supporting MVPA behavior change studies, we applied it to 2 case studies. RESULTS Among the 123 participants analyzed, PATX labeled 41 participants as experiencing a significant increase in MVPA and 44 participants who experienced a significant decrease in MVPA, with significance defined as P<.05. Our first case study was consistent with previous works investigating the associations between MVPA and mental health. Whereas the second, exploring how individuals perceive their own levels of MVPA relative to their friends, led to a novel observation that individuals were less likely to notice changes in their own MVPA when close ties in their social network mimicked their changes. CONCLUSIONS By providing meaningful and flexible outputs, PATX alleviates data concerns common with fitness trackers to support MVPA behavior change studies as they shift to more objective assessments of MVPA.

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