Category: Race & Ethnicity Studies

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Problem Solving Courts

In mid February 2011 The Guardian newspaper published an edited version of David Faulkner’s contribution to the United Kingdom’s Centre for Crime and Justice Studies’ report “Lessons for the Coalition” which was written in response to the first report of the National Preventative Mechanism – a new body set up under the optional protocol to the UN convention against torture. The National Preventative Mechanism’s report highlighted problem areas in the UK’s approach to mental health, resources, vulnerable groups such as...

People / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology Compass Issues / Sociology of Culture

Authors in FOCUS: An Interview with Wayne Brekhus On Cognitve Sociology and the Study of Race

Wayne Brekhus discusses his co-authored article, On the Contributions of Cognitive Sociology to the Sociological Study of Race In the interview, Dr. Brekhus answers questions such as: What is cognitive sociology? How did he become interested in the cognitive perspective? Why is it so critical that we study race using the cognitive model? To listen to the interview, CLICK HERE !! AND… After you watch the interview, read the article by clicking here!!

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

The Push and Pull of Multiculturalism in Western States

Saturday, February 5th, British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at a security conference in Munich. In light of the growing evidence that the United Kingdom has become a “safe haven” for Islamic militants, Mr. Cameron’s remarks strongly criticized Britain’s multicultural approach to the nation’s immigrants. The policy, initiated in the 1960s, recognizes the right of all people in Britain to live by their own traditional values. Many argue that this strategy is responsible for the fractured sense of British identity and lack...

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Professor gives away course…for free

Nathan Palmer, creator and author of SociologySource.com, has recently launched the Soc101 Class Pack, an entire set of introductory sociology course material including syllabus, PowerPoint presentations, class activities, and assignments in an easily customizable, freely downloadable file. Why would anyone give away something like this for free? What does he hope his site accomplishes? And where did he get all these great ideas for the classroom?  I had Nathan sit down for an interview to get some answers. “I believe...

Race & Ethnicity Studies

Wake Up and See the Carolina Blue: Color Blindness in Wake County, NC

“We have an achievement gap,” a Wake County, North Carolina School board member expounded during his Fall 2009 campaign. “One that is significant. 50% of our African American boys are dropping out. This drives up crime and societal costs. This is a skewed system that fails to adjust for the needs of children of poverty and in doing so we fail to challenge our most gifted or raise our most vulnerable. Too many of our children are falling behind.” The...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Identifying "play" as normalizing practice: Connecting LEGO's Prison Transport Vehicle to the prison-industrial complex

By Rachael Liberman In a recent critique posted on The Huffington Post (18 January), Bestselling Author and Speaker Rebecca Walker (note that this “title” introduction comes from The Huffington Post and fails to include her work as a prolific feminist) poses the following question, which also serves as the title of her article; “Does This Lego Toy Send the Wrong Message to Children?” Stemming from her concern over the possible normalization of the prison-industrial complex,” Walker points out that one...

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

Seeking Refuge: the battle for stability and support in times of economic hardship

A recent Seattle Times report shed light on the growing, but often invisible, problems faced by the United States’ refugee population. Approximately 80,000 refugees will resettle in the U.S. this year, hailing from war-torn countries such as Somalia, Myanmar (Burma), Iraq, and Bhutan. These individuals leave desperate situations- some living in camps in borderlands for ten years- with the hope of making a new life. However, refugees are warned before they decide to depart their native region that the U.S....

Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Legislation and identity politics: The case of France versus Muslim women and the facial veil

By Rachael Liberman As any respectful Western feminist knows, meddling in the affairs of non-Western women is a theoretical faux pas. Concerns, of course, are one thing, but condemnation outside of historical and cultural contexts, or “border crossing” has been ruled as downright oppressive (see Chandra Mohanty, Gayatri Spivak and Uma Narayan, among others). Issues such as genital mutilation have been fiercely debated among feminists, focusing more on the matter of Western normalizing judgment than the act itself. Discussion over...

Class & Stratification / Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Black Feminist Thought: Nearly twenty years on

Current policy that puts black men behind bars keeps black women in confines of their own. According to a recent Economist editorial, “between the ages of 20 and 29, one black man in nine is behind bars. For black women of the same age, the figure is about one in 150.” The author pointed to this statistic to demonstrate the decreasing dating pool for black women who are looking to start a family with black men. As incarceration rates rose...

Class & Stratification / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Media & Communication

Decennial Census Deemed Offensive and Outdated

The United States Census Bureau administered its Decennial Census of the population. Recently, CNN News highlighted controversy regarding the 2010 Census Short Form. Americans voiced concerns about item nine, which questioned about respondent’s race. Americans were especially troubled by the answer choice “Black, African American, or Negro”. Americans raised numerous questions about the item on race. Is the inclusion of the term “Negro” offensive? Is the term outdated? According to the Census Bureau, research indicated that a segment of the...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Inequality in the Criminal Justice System Continues

People convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine receive 100 times the sentence as people convicted of crimes involving powder cocaine. Senator Richard Durbin (Democrat from Illinois) introduced a bill to eliminate the sentencing disparity for crack vs. powder cocaine. ACLU Legislative Counsel Jennifer Bellamy commented: “We finally have the political will and momentum to end this unconstitutional disparity. We should not miss this opportunity to effect real change and ensure fair sentencing for all Americans.” Senator Jefferson Sessions (Republican from...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

When critiquing harmful beauty practices becomes an ahistorical media spectacle: A reading of Jessica Simpson's "The Price of Beauty"

By Rachael Liberman In what appears to be a inauthentic contrast to its current menu of celebrity reality programming, VH1 has begun airing a program titled Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty, which is summarized by Simpson in the following statement from the beginning sequence of the program: “I’m going to travel the world and see what makes a woman from different cultures feel beautiful.” Simpson, the singer-turned-reality show star who has been recently ostracized by media outlets for relationship...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

The British National Party: ‘Still Discriminatory’?

Today, the Central London County Court has delivered its verdict in relation to the British National Party’s [BNP] membership policy. Judge Paul Collins’ decision – whilst noting the BNP’s attempts to modify its constitution – found that the party recruitment policy was ‘still likely to be discriminatory.’ Since the proceedings have been initiated the BNP has removed any requirement for members to be white, although it retains many troubling conditions. For instance: the compulsory opposition to “integration or assimilation” of...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Immigration Reform: Misplaced Responsibility

The concept of immigration reform, like welfare reform focuses on symptoms and not the causes.  Many of the policies involved in immigration reform are band-aids, temporary solutions rather than systemic alternatives.  The New York Times recently reported on the failure of the Obama Administration to introduce a comprehensive bill designed to target immigration generally and immigrants specifically (see article below). According to sociologist and immigration activist Grace Change, such reform bills reproduce/overlook three themes.  First, the goal of ‘reform’ efforts...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Chevron Contaminates Water Sources with Toxic Waste

Indigenous people residing in Ecuador filed an environmental lawsuit against Chevron Corporation for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Amazon rainforest between 1964 and 1990. The indigenous people argue that Chevron’s toxic waste disposal resulted in $27 billion worth of damages. For instance, evidence suggests that Chevron’s former oil drilling sites are contaminated with toxic byproducts that cause cancer. The indigenous people drink from water sources contaminated by these toxic byproducts. Chevron hired twelve public relations firms...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Avatar’s Themes as Exposing Real-Life Occurrences?

James Cameron’s Avatar has been making millions of dollars from movie ticket sales worldwide. The movie features humans invading the planet Pandora in the future. Corporate entities in cooperation with military units hope to extract natural resources from territory inhabited by indigenous people called the Na’vi. Although a human named Jake Sully initially agrees to gather intelligence for the military by using an avatar identity, he eventually decides to help the Na’vi mount an attack against the military. Regardless of...