Politics & Society

Depression Due to Politics: the Quiet Danger to Democracy

July 7, 2025

UC Merced Professor Christopher Ojeda and his book "The Sad Citizen"

On laptop screens, televisions and social media feeds across the nation, images and words fueled by a fractured political landscape spout anger, frustration and resentment. Clashing ideologies burst forth in public demonstrations, family gatherings and digital echo chambers. Red-hot rhetoric and...

Sociology Professor Nella Van Dyke is an expert on social movements in relation to hate crimes and has studied far right-wing movements.

Q&A: Sociologist with Specialty in Right-Wing Movements on Free Speech and the First Amendment

Social justice movements and conspiracy theories have become a hallmark of our time, but how do we know which inflammatory statements are legally protected and which are not? Sociology Professor...

Prestigious Biennial Grant Program Includes Funding for Ag-labor and Wildfire Research

Two new projects designed and led by UC Merced researchers will address challenges facing many Californians — wildfire recovery and agricultural labor — but will also have global reach...

Q&A: How People Decide Whether to Comply with Public Health Orders

How do people decide whether to comply with public health directives around the COVID-19 pandemic, such as wearing masks, social distancing and staying at home? Whether to take such preventative...

Professor Tracey Osborne Taking on Complex, Grand Challenges in Climate and Social Justice

The world is a complex place, and humanity faces major challenges. Climate change mitigation might be the most difficult, in large part because of the interdependency of living things and their...

Low-Wage Work Is Linked to Spread of COVID-19, Study Finds

California counties with high numbers of low-wage workers are seeing higher incidence of COVID-19, suggesting a link between so-called “worker distress” and spread of the virus, according...

More than $9M in Research Grants to Address California’s Critical Issues

The University of California Office of the President announced its biennial Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) grants, funding 16 collaborative projects encompassing issues...

Drawing Graphic Lessons: Comics Teach, Evaluate Difficult Concepts

Though illustrations have been used to convey ideas and information since before language existed, after Benjamin Franklin published the world’s first editorial cartoon in 1754, comics emerged...

Campus’ Second Fulbright Student Scholar Prepares for a Homecoming

Violet Barton remembers her teenage years doing quadratic equations by candlelight to a soundtrack of bombs and bullets as the Salvadoran Civil War raged around her. She was forced to migrate to...

Professor’s Fellowship Allows Renewed Focus on Sociology of Race in South Africa

Professor Whitney Pirtle recently became the first researcher to win the prestigious Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship while employed at UC Merced — a grant that will help her finish...

Research