Latest articles from sociology lens

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication / Video Resources

Who Dreamed a Dream?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related] by linanne10 A recent youtube video of one of the performances in the largest British competition show, “Britain’s Got Talent,” have received incalculable viewing frequencies, and the number is still rising. Susan Boyle is the focus of this incident. Her mundane (and to some point, ludicrous) appearance, with her resonant and rich voice made her the new “instant celebrity” (according to a recent New York Times article). Drawing from Alexander’s idea on social performance, a successful performance needs to...

Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

“The Trash of the Titans?”

The BBC has today announced that the British government has decided to scrap plans for the creation of so-called “Titan” prisons. These prisons – first announced in December 2007 – were each expected to accommodate 2,500 prisoners at a cost of £350 million per institution. Although, the introduction of these prisons has been met with criticism, (partly because of their perceived similarity to American jails), it had seemed as if the government was totally committed to the project. At present,...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

What to Wear Today?

 by ishein1 Teenagers, especially during the years of economic prosperity, consistently cast their consumer vote at various clothing retail stores.  Marketers respond by relentlessly attempting to woo this coveted demographic.  Various stores, even ones owned by the same corporation, create varying images in order to create a perspective of “cool”.  “Coolness,” they believe, will induce the most profit.  In schools around the country teenagers define themselves by what they are wearing.  Brand names are signifiers that display identity.  An individual’s...

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

Pirates, Terrorists, and Asymmetric Power

by christinablunt On Wednesday, April 8, a U.S. container ship, the Maersk Alabama, was commandeered by a group of Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The Maersk Alabama was quickly recovered but the captain, Richard Phillips, was held hostage by four of the pirates on a lifeboat for several days. Negotiations were conducted between the marauders and the American destroyer, the U.S.S. Bainbridge. On April 12, acting with President Obama’s authorization and the belief that Captain Phillips was in imminent...

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

Ten Years Later: Three Academic Perspectives on the Columbine Massacre

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_lBgaUpmu4] by NickieWild A decade after teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students, one teacher, and wounded 23 at their high school in Colorado, academic writers in different fields still debate the source of their rage. Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters by Langman is a new book offering a psychological evaluation of the incident, which argues that sociocultural factors have been overemphasized. He writes that certain children are predisposed to violence through schizophrenia or...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Consuming in a Recession

by bmckernan While at the start of the economic downturn many media outlets were claiming the video game industry to be “recession proof,” recent sales figures seem to indicate that even an industry often characterized as “escapist” seems not to be fully impervious to financial realities. A recent article in the New York Times reports that sales figures for the game industry were down in March from the previous year, leading the article to conclude that the economic downturn may...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

George Ritzer Guest Post: Are Today’s Globalized Cathedrals of Consumption Tomorrow’s Global Dinosaurs?

By: George Ritzer Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland A decade ago I wrote a book dealing with what I called the “cathedrals of consumption”. These are consumption settings that had, in the main, come into existence in the United States in the post-WWII era. Of particular interest were the most grandiose of these consumption settings including major indoor shopping malls, mega-malls (e.g. Mall of America), theme parks (especially Disneyland and Disney World), cruise ships, and above all the themed...

Science & Technology

Constructing Prenatal Testing

by theoryforthemasses A recent New York Times article highlights the current debate surrounding the prenatal testing of women for thyroid problems. Doctors suggest that many women conflate the effects of pregnancy with symptoms of unchecked hypo- or hyperthyroidism. They explain that thyroid problems can lead to miscarriage, preterm delivery, and pre-eclampsia, and even have long-term negative effects on their children’s intelligence. While “high risk” women are regularly screened for thyroid problems, some medical professionals are now advocating for widespread prenatal...

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

Toilets: The New Model of Social Parity?

nmccoy1 Forty years after second wave women’s movements took to the streets demanding equal pay and legal protections we are finally seeing a move in the direction of parity and it is taking place in the bathroom.  The recent decision by Yankee Stadium (see article below) to take gender into consideration in its architecture is both an historic and sobering moment.  Gender, race, class, and sexual discrimination is not simply a matter of laws and codes, it is also culturally...

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

The Struggle Continues

by rbobbitt Sitara Achikzai, a prominent women’s rights activist was assassinated in outside her home in Kandahar, Afghanistan this past week. Achikzai, who lived in Germany during the Taliban rule, had returned to Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban to fight for women’s rights. A member of Kandahar provincial council, she was often vocal in urging women to take jobs and join the fight to regain their rights and push for equality. This senseless murder sheds light on the...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Welcome to the Real "Earth"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T6APT6_w7I] linanne Mass media and technological advancement have created webs of images of reality, which often serve as resources for audiences and social actors to refer to while interpreting and understanding the world around them. Sociologist and cultural theorist, Jean Baudrillard understood such mass production, imitations and constant reproduction of images and goods as “second order” simulation. This second order simulation, according to Baudrillard, disturbs and blurs the line between the “real” and the “copy,” threatening to detach social actors...

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

‘The Barbaric Theology of “Evil” Children’

by paulabowles British news has reported that two young brothers (aged 10 and 11) have been arrested in South Yorkshire for their alleged torture and assault of two younger boys. This case has once again raised the many emotive issues surrounding children who behave violently. Johann Hari of The Independent takes the opportunity to revisit the case of Mary Bell – as well as a brief reminder of the murder of James Bulger – concluding that ‘[t]he child who kills...

Gender & Sexuality

Mr. Mom and the Recession

by socanonymous The current recession has been dubbed the “he-cession”, referring to the fact that it is predominantly males that are being laid off.  The female unemployment rate has been relatively stable in certain industries.  A role reversal in some domestic household activities has taken place.  The notion of female breadwinners is not a new phenomenon but it does provide for a unique opportunity to closely examine the effects of an economic downturn on changing family structures.  Power relations and...

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture

Asian Values and Women's Rights

by christinablunt Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a move to bolster support in the upcoming presidential elections, signed a law which stipulated that, “Unless the wife is ill, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband.” Human rights groups are calling foul play. To say nothing of the fact that a woman’s rights are being used as a tool of negotiation, the UN is arguing the new law essentially legalizes...

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

Super-Anomie? U.S. Shooting Incidents in the Last 30 Days

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J22mLsZd2C8] by NickieWild As of today, according to msnbc.com, 43 people have died in the last 30 days in mass-shooting incidents across the U.S. There are several sociological theories that could potentially explain this. Messner and Rosenfeld’s “American Dream” structural strain theory posits that when there is a gap between what one wants to achieve and what seems possible, violence increases. For the immigrant who shot 13 people and himself in Binghamton, NY last week, there is evidence that points...

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Visual Culture according to the Police

by kiddingthecity It sounds more and more likely that the Police have something to do with the death of a newsagent at the rally in the City of London. Many witnesses have come forward and most importantly there is The Picture: the evidence, the forensic clue, the probatio, the real stuff judges love and on which the surveillance culture of the streets in this country has been built upon. Mr Tomlinson is on the floor, surrounded by police officers, his...