Latest articles from sociology lens
by paulabowles A recent British court case has highlighted the emotive issue of euthanasia, or assisted suicide. Yesterday’s ruling by the House of Lords offers opportunities to not only clarify the legal position, but also places the issue firmly in the public domain. The background to the case involves the personal story of Debbie Purdy and her attempts to shed light on the criterion used by the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] with regard to assisted suicide. As a multiple...
By Rachael Liberman When high-end retailer Barneys New York decided to remove their controversial window display on July 22nd, media outlets were literally handed a story that involved high fashion, violence against women, corporate marketing, and artistic integrity. Instead, many outlets, including the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune, abandoned a cultural critique and ran what the AP wire distributed. As a consequence, what could have been a discussion and inquiry into the social condition of gender and violence was...
By Dena T. Smith Health care reform is in the foreground of the American political landscape. Politicians in favor of transformation face staunch opposition and must convince the public and their fellow representatives in congress of both the imminent need and potential effectiveness of a major overhaul. Classical studies on altruistic behavior inform us that actions aimed at helping others, such as supporting health care reform, are more likely when we experience empathy for the person(s) in need. Estimates as to how many...
by nathan jurgenson Google announced that its new operating system, Chrome OS, will be free of charge. Further, it is designed to operate in the “cloud,” meaning that most of its functionality will exist online, using internet applications like GMail and Google Documents instead of programs installed on a hard drive (as Windows does). The free cloud-based operating system is designed to run on smaller, lighter “netbooks” -a bright spot in the computer market in these tough economic times. I...
One of the most interesting aspects of the reaction to President Obama’s comments regarding the arrest of Professor Gates is the focus on his race. While clearly prompted by personal experiences, is it not also possible that Obama was simply voicing an opinion, not an opinion from a black President? The New York Times article (see below) opens with the statement, “Americans got a rare glimpse Wednesday night of what is means to have a black president in the Oval...
by ChristinaBlunt On Saturday July 18, the Washington Post reported that respected human rights group Memorial will suspend its activities in Chechnya following the murder of one of its activists, Natalya Estemirova. Reports state that Estemirova was kidnapped outside her home last Wednesday and found with a bullet in her head hours later outside the Chechen capital. Estemirova’s work involved documenting crimes committed by representatives of the authorities. The Post reports that Estemirova was killed the same day a report...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giS0382sFjw] by NickieWild Is racist language still acceptable in the United States? As with most things in social science, the answer depends on the situation and people involved. Recently, the television program on the CBS network “Big Brother” self-censored an episode where two contestants used a derogatory term to describe fellow contestants who were of Mexican descent, as well as making anti-gay remarks. Compare this incident with former Georgia Senator and Governor Zell Miller’s statement that President Obama should be...
by bmckernan In recent months, software giant Microsoft has come under strong criticism for its censoring of particular “gamertags” on its Xbox Live Service that Microsoft officials consider to contain sexual innuendo. However, as an article on the gaming site Kotaku documents, in practice this has led to the banning of gamertags used by gamers to express their sexual orientation. A recent opinion article by game journalist Mike Fahey on the gaming site Kotaku provides an insightful and engaging account...
by smteixeirapoit The United States Constitution mandates completion of the Decennial Census, which is administered by the Census Bureau. Earlier this month, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota announced that she plans to refuse completing the Census because she does not condone the Census Bureau partnering with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Representatives Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, and John Mica of Florida encouraged Bachmann to withdraw her boycott. They argued that “boycotting the...
by paulabowles Since 9/11, the world’s attention has increasingly been concentrated on the threat of terrorism and the mechanisms designed to uncover and combat it. Much of the focus has been on Al Qaeda; however, a recent British case suggests that this is not the only terrorist threat faced today. On Wednesday, Neil Lewington was found guilty at the Old Bailey of terrorism and explosives offences. He was originally detained for public order offences after being drunk and abusive to...
nmccoy1 The economic “crisis” receives attention on a twenty-four hour cycle of intense scrutiny, speculation, and news coverage. And though there is no doubt that the economy is in a recession, the spectacle of scandal has shadowed every step of the decline. Rather than reading the scapegoating and blame game as a political process, Mark Jacobs asks us to recontextualize scandal itself as a cultural and social construction. Scandals are more than media explosions and the uncovering of secrets, they...
by christinablunt Last week’s news was peppered with the conferral and withdrawal of political support around the world. Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez lost her majority in Congress, Iran’s Guardian Council declared that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Albania’s election was too close to call, and Minnesota’s Supreme Court finally declared a winner in the state’s Senate election by a mere 312 votes. But perhaps most notably, a military coup occurred in Honduras after President...
by bmckernan While most of us have most likely had our fill of news stories related to the tragic death of pop icon Michael Jackson courtesy of the media’s seemingly daily obsession with the story, a recent blog post by games journalist Jeremy Parish at 1up.com provides some rather unique cultural insight into Michael Jackson reminiscent of Raymond William’s notion of a society or social group’s “structure of feeling.”
by smteixeirapoit In India, Section 377 of the colonial penal code described homosexual acts as “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. Additionally, the penal code decreed that homosexual acts were punishable by a ten year prison sentence. Recently, the Delhi High Court overturned this 148-year-old law, thereby decriminalizing homosexuality. When learning about inequality in sociology courses, many undergraduate students challenge whether inequality exists. Some argue that once a country’s legal system promotes equality, inequality becomes eradicated. The decriminalization of...
by paulabowles In 2001, the British police launched “Operation Ore”, hailed as a ground-breaking opportunity to catch individuals, who had paid for and accessed child pornography via the internet. With a possible 7,000 plus British suspects on the database, it is little wonder that the operation was perceived to have huge criminological and technological potential, not least in the fight against transnational pornography. However, over the last two years, criticisms have been raised, particularly in relation to the validity of...
by nathan jurgenson For many (especially youths and young adults), attempting to quit or never start Facebook is a difficult challenge. We are compelled to document ourselves and our lives online partly because services like Facebook have many benefits, such as keeping up with friends, scheduling gatherings (e.g., protests) and so on. Additionally, and to the point of this post, the digital documentation of ourselves also means that we exist. There is a common adage that if something is not...
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