Latest articles from sociology lens

Gender & Sexuality / Social Identity / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

The romantic and the mundane: Finding your soulmate via Social Practice Theory

  Do you believe that ‘The One’, your ‘soul-mate’, your ‘life-partner’ exists? Have you already found them? Hollywood movies, glossy magazines, and agony aunts repeatedly reassure us that, firstly, somewhere out there is Mr/Miss Right, and secondly, we just need the good fortune to find them – some auspicious occasion when true love will make its presence known. I was compelled to dwell on this when I read Julie Birchill’s recent article on the matter in the Spectator. I don’t want...

Gender & Sexuality / Opinion

World Polity Theory and Gender Mainstreaming

  What is the relationship between global theory and feminist scholarship and activism?  Even when global theories do not appear to relate to contemporary feminist dialogues, links can be drawn between global theory and women’s rights agendas.  One example can be seen in the relationship between world-polity theory and gender mainstreaming. World-polity theorists sought to emphasize the importance of cultural frames, even suggesting world cultural principles and institutions shape the actions of nations and individuals (Boli and Thomas 1997).  World...

Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

How About "Just Don't Rape?": On the Invention of Date Rape Nail Polish, Preventive Advice, and Women's Subordination (or Men's Empowerment)

It is the same old tale, just spun with a different color thread: “Women: don’t get raped.” Recently, four students (note that they are all male) invented Undercover Colors, a nail polish for women that changes color (like a mood ring) when it touches rape drugs commonly slipped into drinks. Now,  I do applaud the men for recognizing the all-too-common issue of rape and taking the initiative to do something about it. Only, what they did still places the blame...

Opinion

Researching Young People and the Social Construction of Youth

Next time you read research about young people ask why is it focussing specifically on their age. It is still taken for granted that the process of maturing from a child to adolescent to adult unfolds as a series of naturally occurring stages, that there is a right age at which children should develop certain competencies and acquire certain freedoms and responsibilities (Scott, 1999). Contemporary sociological research, however, has “highlighted the blurring of boundaries between youth and adulthood and the...

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology Compass Issues / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Organizations & Work

"Who Are you Calling Entitled?" : The Problem with Lazy Millennials

In a recent Sociology Compass article, Dr Elisabeth Kelan draws attention to common uses of the concept of ‘Generations’ and points out that despite being a useful and commonly used concept for Psychology, it has not been widely drawn upon in the Sociological literature. This is surprising, as she notes, because it is so often used in more mainstream writing, media and culture, particularly to describe the characteristics of certain demographics of people. In reference to Dr Kelan’s work, the...

Opinion

Why the Fracking “Haves” Come Out Ahead

Photograph taken by Joanne Koehler. This is a guest post by Jamie Longazel and Joanne Koehler.  Jamie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at the University of Dayton.  Joanne is a recent graduate of the University of Dayton, receiving degrees in Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies. There is an interesting and potentially important fracking case going on New Mexico right now. The Mora County Commissioners passed the Community Water Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance,...

Opinion

The joy of Absence and the Digital Detox

I just came back from a week in Greece. I’m not here to brag, but it was pretty damn great. One of the best things about it was that I hardly used my phone. I couldn’t. Out on the scrubland hills on the island of Levkas, my friend’s mother’s villa does get some limited internet access, but it’s expensive and patchy, so I just didn’t bother using it at all. No email, no facebook, no twitter, no whatsapp, no news,...

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Don't Quote Me On This!

  I am not going to cite, quote or reference anyone in this post, and I wonder if that will change the opinion of those who read it. Does citing someone else make what I write more valid, more accurate or more valuable? Citation and referencing are an important part of academic writing; it is a painstaking, laborious and often frustrating process that is, unfortunately, unavoidable. Of course, I understand why it is necessary. When communicating ideas or concepts it is...

Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

Holding Up the Women Who Hold Up Half the Sky

  Recently, Netflix added the widely acclaimed documentary Half the Sky to its online streaming library.  The film, inspired by journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn book of the same name, follows six American celebrities as they travel throughout Asia and Africa addressing some of the health care, educational, and economic issues that oppress women and girls across the globe. Throughout the film, the viewer clearly sees the impact women and girls of the developing world have on both Kristof...

Sociology of Culture

Speaking Globe-ish

I recently took a break from my PhD to work as an ESL teacher in a summer school in Northern England. As well as making a welcome change from my studies to a very different working and living environment for a month, it also made me reflect on language and the linguistic hegemony which English continues to enjoy around the world. On the one hand, I’m slightly uncomfortable with the way which English has become the dominant world language, allowing...

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

Going Out of My Mind in Jandiayacu

    So often we talk about being rational, making decisions based on established facts and existing knowledge, as if it is, and should be, the aim of all people at all times. Ways of being or knowing that sit outside of accepted knowledge can open a person up to being dismissed, discredited or ridiculed, particularly in the academic world. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a somewhat methodical and ‘rational’ person (most of the time). I love...

Opinion

Damaged Discussions?

In 2008, I read a book by Adina Nack, Damaged Goods? Women Living With Incurable Sexually Transmitted Diseases. At the time I was blown away by a text that focused on the study of chronic, non-fatal sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at a time when the majority of research on gender and STIs focused on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and abroad. Nack’s study examined the ways in which women diagnosed the issue of non-fatal, chronic, sexually transmitted infections...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Is The Sociology Finished Yet?

This is a guest post from Guy Sanders.  Guy is a freelance graphic artist living and working in London. He specialises in promotional design and branding for theatre and entertainment companies. He holds a BSc in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Bristol. Guy’s interests include cultural criticism and the deconstruction of nation making. He tweets @GuyJSanders Is The Sociology Finished Yet? I completed a BSc in Sociology and Political Science in 2011. What followed immediately was a period of...

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

Investigating misogyny on Twitter: sociology’s role.

There are now free tools available, such as Node XL, which, at unprecedented speeds and scales allow us access, harvest, and analyse the traces of people’s (often transgressive) thoughts, opinions and behaviours on Twitter. Since it combines the grand scale and generalisability of methods such as national surveys with the granularity and detail of close textual analysis, ethnography, or participant observation (Driscoll & Walker, 2014, p1746), Twitter analysis seemingly represents the holy grail of research methods. Existing research into misogyny...

Opinion

Was Facebook’s ‘emotional contagion’ experiment really so unethical?

There’s an interesting post at over on The Philosopher’s Eye, questioning whether Facebook’s recent ‘emotional contagion’ experiments really were so unethical. So, what do you think? Was manipulating the newsfeeds of a few hundred thousand Facebook users unethical, or just part and parcel of the standard user agreement? The Facebook Scandal that Wasn’t – By Udo Schuklenk

Opinion

Is Sleep ‘nature’s soft nurse’, or just for wimps?

How well did you sleep last night? Or the night before? Feeling rested and ready? Nope, me either. While I find it no trouble at all to feed myself adequately, I’m in a constant struggle to provide myself with enough of that most basic resource, sleep. It sometimes feels like while my body and mind most certainly value sleep a lot, technology and modern social practices seem to have very little regard for it at all, and my body and...