Friends and Fortunes

Benjamin Cornwell served as Chair of Sociology at Cornell University. He has published two books, including Social Sequence Analysis (Cambridge, 2015) and over 70 studies on topics such as social networks and epidemiology. In 2017, the American Sociological Association awarded Cornwell the Leo Goodman Award for advances in research methods. Cristobal Young is Associate Professor of Sociology at Cornell University. He studies the social dynamics of inequality, ranging from millionaire taxes to unemployment. His methodological work centers on model uncertainty and robust results. His most recent book is Multiverse Analysis: Computational Methods for Robust Results (with Erin Cumberworth, Cambridge, 2025). Barum Park is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Cornell University. He works on topics in political sociology, social networks, social mobility, and quantitative methods. Barum's work has appeared in American Journal of Sociology, Journal of Politics, Social Forces, Sociological Methodology, and Sociological Science, among other outlets. Nan Feng is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from Cornell University in 2024. She studies how social networks shape inequality and are shaped by inequality. Her work employs innovative quantitative approaches to study complex data structures.

'The authors pull back from the network details of social capital to capture two broad features across individuals, groups, and territories: (1) social connectivity is beneficial, and (2) that connectivity is concentrated, as are material resources, in the hands of a minority. In establishing a general foundation, the book should be productive as a reading for undergraduates, or a platform from which many a doctoral dissertation could launch.' Ronald Burt, University of Chicago and Bocconi University

• Part I. Introduction: 1. Our Study of Social Resources and Social Capital; Part II. Theoretical Foundations: 2. Theoretical Foundations; Part III. Data and Analytic Strategy: 3. Data, Measurement, and Analytic Strategy: Part IV. Findings: 4. Inequality in Social Networks and Social Capital; 5. Social Networks, Prosperity, and Power; Part V. Conclusions: 6. Conclusions and Future Directions.