Category: Sociology of Culture

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The Law & Social Movements: Six Months after SOPA & PIPA

Six months ago today the U.S. Congress was in the midst of a debate over legislation that would fundamentally alter the relationship between the state, intellectual property holders, and the Internet. In opposition to the legislation, known as SOPA (House version) and PIPA (Senate version), thousands of web sites – including major sites such as Wikipedia and reddit.com – voluntarily blacked themselves out in protest. A closer examination of this incident and events that have transpired since provides insight into how...

Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture

The Power of Comedy

Mark Twain once said “that the human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Even if this is an exaggeration, it might explain our love for humor, specifically the art of comedy. Humor allows people to approach sensitive issues. No one is better at this than the Stand-up Comic.  The Comic’s job is to create, sustain, and guide the audience throughout their performance. In doing so, the comic touches on material that is taboo to the...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

Childcare and Work: The Privilege of Choice

“If you don’t believe that childcare is work, then try telling your parents or whoever took care of you that raising you was not work.  I don’t imagine that would go over well.”  I say this in my social problems class as a counterpoint to the assertion that welfare-recipients are lazy and immoral.  Most recently the sentiment was employed to defend wealthy “stay-at-home mom,” and wife of presidential candidate, Ann Romney.  The sentiment that childcare is work is fairly uncontested...

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Embracing Civility or Intensifying Deviance….A Dialectic?

As prior posts may express, my attention has been gripped by the motivations and experiences of those engaged in deviant activity. More specifically, it is not major crimes under consideration but rather the marginal acts of expression and resistance – tagging, unsanctioned extreme sports, controversial fashions, and the like. While trying to empathetically understand the ‘deviant’ perspective, it seems this perspective is often dismissed as delinquent and nothing more, void of any further value. As scholars have often noted, this...

Class & Stratification / Sociology of Culture

Some critical thoughts about "critical thinking"

The two professors sat in front of me, making conversation before the talk. The speaker’s title slide already projected on the wall ahead: “What (if anything) are undergraduates learning during college?” The professors laughed at just how apt they thought the title was: “Isn’t that right?” “Yes, anything, please!” And then the more senior faculty member, a female, returned with a comment that made her junior colleague bristle: “Especially the boys. Some of those boys just try to get by...

Science & Technology / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Toward a Quantified Life?

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how much of our lives are being captured and translated into numbers, percentages, and statistics. It seems that no matter where one turns, some aspect of our social life is being measured quantitatively. Of course, this is not a new phenomenon – things like age, weight, body mass index, intelligence quotient, height, and physical aptitude scores have been with us for some time now. However, it appears that this movement to quantify...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

The Legitimation of Deviance: Examining the Role of the State

Knee deep in studying for comprehensive exams, the literature has drawn my attention toward (1) how an illegal activity can have a legal counterpart, and (2) how a deviant activity becomes socially acceptable and celebrated within mainstream culture. As examples, there is skydiving and its illegal counterpart of base jumping; wall murals and their illicit sibling of extravagant graffiti; or the ‘world’s fastest growing sport’ of MMA versus the back-yard-brawls caught on tape. While the actual activity performed for each...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Local Immigration Politics in the Rust Belt

Editor’s note: This post has been printed with permission of the author. By Dr. Jamie Longazel Last fall, the Rust Belt city of Dayton, Ohio approved the “Welcome Dayton Plan” —  an attempt to foster the inclusion of immigrants and refugees in a city devastated by years of economic decline. Dayton’s plan comes at a time when two separate but not unrelated fires are blazing across the country: economic crisis and anti-immigrant sentiment. We should certainly applaud Dayton’s willingness to...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Immigration Bill Proposal: A Step Further from Equality

A recent article published in the Kansas City Star stimulated my interest for a discourse. I found the article especially relevant, as presently, a wide segment of the United States population vehemently opposes undocumented aliens in the country. The article’s author reported that an immigration bill proposal sponsored by State Senator Will Kraus, a Lee’s Summit Republican, would require public schools in Missouri to verify the immigration status of students. A provision of the proposed bill stipulates that all public...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Contradictory Trends Influencing School Operations: A Case of Cell Phones

In 2010, MSNBC published an article written by Alex Johnson entitled “Some schools rethink bans on cell phones: Bans don’t work, so administrators explore using mobile devices”. In the report, Johnson notes that 100 plus students were suspended – not for cheating, smoking, or bullying – but for having cell phones. While presented here as merely an anecdote, there can little doubt that the use of cell phones, and mobile technology more generally, is an issue that has caught the...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

On the Streets: Spaces of Opportunity and Marginalization

On my weekly trip to the grocery store, the traffic seems heavier than usual; perhaps the nice weather has coaxed people from their homes or out of work. It is surprisingly warm today with a high reported to reach the 70s. Taking advantage, my car windows are rolled down, sunglasses are on, and it seems that Bruno Mars has gripped popular radio channels. While stopped at a red light (about a dozen cars back), I notice a group of about...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Teachable Moments?: The Case of Penn State

I’ve read a lot about the shocking revelation that a former coach at Penn State allegedly molested up to 8 boys and raped at least one.  The story is all the more shocking given the grand jury testimony that points to a possible cover up by Penn State officials.  Indeed, media coverage of who knew what and when has almost eclipsed coverage of the original alleged crimes.  Two Penn State administrators were charged with perjury and amid the outrage the...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

The New Wave of Deterrence and its Internalization

The notion of deterrence has no doubt become a mainstay in criminal justice for understanding and preventing criminal activity. Today’s use of deterrence highlights its influence seeing that its principles can be traced to the work of Cesare Beccaria in 1764. Reflecting the utilitarian framework, he noticed that citizens give a measure of their freedom to the government so that it can enforce agreed upon laws to keep the public safe and secure (social contract). Beccaria, reacting to the harsh...

Sociology of Culture / Teaching & Learning Guide

College Students and Social Media: Making Meaning of Everyday Activities in the Classroom…

When Harrisburg University in Harrisburg, PA attempted a week-long social media “blackout” in September 2010, national news media swarmed the campus. A “smartly dressed correspondent from NPR stalk[ed] the staircase,” the Chronicle of Higher Education reported, and as soon as the Chronicle itself spirited away some students for an exclusive interview, a reporter from the Associated Press came barging in. “Oh no—not another one,” one student cried out. Another, weary, explained with a sigh that he had just finished begging...

Sociology of Culture

Engaging Sociologically with Students’ Facebook Usage

It’s the middle of class. Looking out into the classroom, a dim light reflects on students’ faces as they stare or type into the devices in front of them.  Walking up and down the aisles, blue-tinted Facebook pages on the students’ screens are usually the source of the reflected light. While such students might seem withdrawn from the class, this familiar scene holds a potential goldmine of sociological exploration and examples. If these students are already intently interested in, or...

Political & Economic Sociology / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Organizations & Work / Teaching & Learning Guide

New issue of Sociology Compass out now! (Vol 5, Issue 9)

Crime & Deviance Racial Profiling/Biased Policing (pages 763–774) Clayton Mosher Article first published online: 6 SEP 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00403.x Culture Social Interaction: Do Non-humans Count? (pages 775–791) Karen A. Cerulo Article first published online: 6 SEP 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00404.x Organisations & Work Mediators of Opportunity: High School Counselors in the 21st Century (pages 792–806) Vicki Smith Article first published online: 6 SEP 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00407.x   Work and Neoliberal Globalization: A Polanyian Synthesis (pages 807–823) Nina Bandelj,...