Michele Lamont
Prof. Michèle Lamont: DiGENet International Guest 2024
Prof. Michéle Lamont is Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and holds the Robert I. Goldman Professorship of European Studies at Harvard University. Born in Toronto and raised in Québec, she earned degrees in political theory at the University of Ottawa before completing her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Paris. After positions at the University of Texas and Princeton University, she joined Harvard’s faculty in 2003. Lamont is one of the leading voices in cultural sociology. Her research explores how societies draw moral boundaries, how individuals and groups experience dignity and exclusion, and how cultural processes shape inequality. She is particularly known for her contributions to the sociology of evaluation and recognition, including how institutions define excellence and how marginalized groups respond to stigma and discrimination. Among her most influential works are The Dignity of Working Men, a comparative study of moral boundaries in the United States and France, and How Professors Think, an ethnographic investigation into the peer review process in academia. Her work has been widely praised for combining theoretical depth with empirical innovation and for shedding light on the cultural foundations of inequality. Lamont has held numerous leadership roles, including serving as President of the American Sociological Association and as Director of Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, where she also led a research cluster on comparative inequality and inclusion. Her academic contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors such as the Erasmus Prize, the Gutenberg Research Award, and the Carnegie Fellowship.
Michele Lamont
Prof. Michèle Lamont brings a distinguished track record in cultural sociology to DiGENet, focusing on recognition, stigma, and moral boundaries across societies. Her comparative research spanning the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Israel probes how excellence is socially constructed and how marginalized groups respond to exclusion. Lamont’s participation supports DiGENet’s goal of critically redefining academic success and inclusion from antiracist and diversity-sensitive perspectives, drawing on her decades of scholarly leadership. Prof. Michèle Lamont turned the spotlight on the cultural and symbolic dynamics that shape academic inclusion. She critiqued the normative ideal of meritocracy, arguing that it often masks existing privilege and fails to adequately address structural barriers, such as limited professional networks or the challenges faced by first-generation scholars. Advocating for intersectional approaches, Lamont emphasized the need to recognize and respond to the diverse forms of exclusion that marginalized groups experience and to institutionalize their social recognition. Her work opened up a deeper debate on evaluation standards in academia, particularly with regard to interdisciplinary research, which is often produced by scholars of color and women but tends to be undervalued. In the following discussion, joined by Prof. Kathrin Zippel, it became clear that fair recruitment and transparent career pathways depend not solely on individual performance, but on structural reform and institutional accountability.