In his 2011 Convocation keynote address, Professor of Sociology Francesco Duina will draw from his book Winning, inviting all incoming students at Bates to reflect on the fact that all the words that guide us in life — such as love, friend, rich, poor, exciting, right, wrong and so on — are socially constructed; and inviting the students to create, during their time at Bates, their own understanding of such terms. He will also talk about time, and more specifically the challenges that come with achievement and transitions, urging students to use their college career in a way that will result in “a simple continuation of their unfolding” rather than a next step.

Duina is a sociologist whose research interests include economic sociology, international political economy, historical institutionalism, globalization, comparative regional integration and the sociology of culture. At Bates he has taught economic sociology, comparative sociology, sociological theory, globalization, European integration and the sociology of competition.

His pioneering 2006 study, The Social Construction of Free Trade: The European Union, NAFTA, and Mercosur (Princeton University Press, 2007), is forthcoming in Chinese translation by China Social Sciences Publishing House. His next book, Institutions and the Economy, will be published this September by Polity Press.

Now in his 11th year at Bates, Duina received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago; and a master’s degree and doctorate in sociology from Harvard University.

Promoted to full professor in May 2011, Francesco Duina is a sociologist whose research interests include economic sociology, international political economy, historical institutionalism, globalization, comparative regional integration and the sociology of culture. He serves as chair of the sociology department at Bates and has been a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. At Bates he has taught economic sociology, comparative sociology, sociological theory, globalization, European integration and the sociology of competition.

Duina’s most recent book, Winning: Reflections on an American Obsession (Princeton University Press, 2011), is receiving widespread news media interest.

His pioneering 2006 study The Social Construction of Free Trade: The European Union, NAFTA, and Mercosur (Princeton University Press, 2007) is forthcoming in Chinese translation by China Social Sciences Publishing House. Duina’s next book, Institutions and the Economy, will be published in September by Polity Press.

Now in his 11th year at Bates, Duina received his master’s degree and doctorate in sociology from Harvard
University, and a master’s in social sciences and bachelor’s
degree in political science from the University of Chicago.

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5. Audio: Duina talks about winning and happiness on ‘The Academic Minute’
6. Slide show: Trashion Show 2010
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10. Bates in the News

We are taught from a young age to be winners and avoid being losers. But what does it mean to win or lose? And does winning make us happy?

Francesco Duina, a sociologist at Bates, explores such questions in his new book, Winning: Reflections on an American Obsession (Princeton University Press). This unprecedented investigation of winning and losing in American society explores our collective beliefs about winners and losers, what we are really after as we struggle to win, and much more.

Duina discusses the book and will sign copies in two public gatherings in November: at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at Borders, 430 Gorham Road, South Portland (207-775-6110); and at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, at the Prince Memorial Library, 266 Main St., Cumberland (207-829-2215). Both are open to the public at no cost.

In Winning, Duina argues that victory is not a final destination in and of itself, but a gateway to something of immense importance to us: the affirmation of our place in the world. But he also shows that competition is ultimately unlikely to provide the answers we need. Winning and losing, instead, are artificial and logically flawed concepts that put us at odds with both the world around us and, ultimately, ourselves.

The competitive worldview isn’t all bad, Duina explains. “Competition, obviously, motivates people a great deal, and out of the motivation you can get things done.

“It propels you forward. You will work harder, push yourself, get to know yourself differently if you subject yourself to such stress and pressure.”

The disadvantage is that because we reflexively operate in a competitive mode, “we’re not truly at peace with what we’re doing. And that creates tensions within oneself and with the rest of the world.

“The winning-and-losing mindset creates a fundamentally antagonistic relationship with the world.”

But Winning also proposes a new mindset for pursuing our dreams, and for finding our proper place in the world, in a more satisfying way.

Duina is associate professor and chair of the sociology department at Bates, and visiting professor at the International Center for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School. He is the author of The Social Construction of Free Trade (Princeton University Press, 2007) and Harmonizing Europe (SUNY Press, 1999).

The Social Construction of Free Trade: The European Union, NAFTA, and Mercosur, an analysis written by Bates College sociologist Francesco Duina, has been named an “Outstanding Academic Title” by the editors of Choice magazine, published by the Association of College & Research Libraries.

At 7 p.m. Friday, March 23, Duina is scheduled to present the book in a store appearance at Books Etc., 38 Exchange St., Portland.

Published in 2006 by Princeton University Press, Duina’s book offers an innovative and compelling view of regional trade agreements. Duina challenges the common assumption that RTAs should be seen as fundamentally similar economic initiatives to promote free trade.

Instead, through a comparative analysis of three key areas of economic life — women in the workplace, the dairy industry and labor rights — he makes the case that such agreements are direct expressions of the societies that produce them.

“In this era of globalization, most literature on regional trade agreements assumes RTAs are a general embrace of the principle of free trade,” a reviewer wrote in the June 2006 edition of Choice. “However, this path breaking study shows they are remarkably different creations, stemming from unique historical, social and cultural contexts that have a distinctive impact on their legal regimes.”

Duina is associate professor of sociology at Bates, where he joined the faculty in 2000, and is visiting professor at the International Center for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School. He is also the author of Harmonizing Europe: Nation States within the Common Market (State University of New York Press, 1999). His research and teaching interests include economic sociology, globalization, the nation state and the cultural underpinnings of trade.

Choice magazine provides reviews of new scholarly publications to guide academic librarians, faculty and other key decision makers in their book purchases. Choice reaches almost every undergraduate college and university library in the United States, serving some 35,000 subscribers through print and online editions.

Choice publishes its list of Outstanding Academic Titles each January. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community. The honor is based on excellence in presentation and scholarship, importance relative to other literature in the field, distinction as a first treatment of a given subject, originality, value to undergraduates and importance to undergraduate library collections.