Based on ethnographic fieldwork in two Sunni Muslim and two Evangelical high schools in the New York City area, this paper uses the philosophical distinction between “essence” and “accident” to suggest that one of the way people accomplish boundary-work is through determining which differences from the outside world are essential and which are simply accidental.

Jeff Guhin is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include theory, culture, schools, religion, and ethnography. He went to Creighton Prep in Omaha and is, like any decent human, a Huskers fan.