Latest articles from sociology lens

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Media & Communication

Money and the breakdown of social relations

by nmccoy1 In the midst of what could be the most devastating financial crisis in the history of the United States and possibly the world, we are seeing rationalized economics take prevalence over human suffering.  In the Philosophy of Money, Georg Simmel argues that as money increases individuality, freedom, and social differences it also breaks down social interaction between and among people.  The U.S. Congress seems more concerned with protecting the monetary system than the individual human beings who comprise...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture

Of Malls and Mosques

by theoryforthemasses Classical sociologists, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim, all suggested that as societies modernized, religion would begin to lose its influence on individuals and become more of a personal choice than a public mode of cohesion and control.  This secularization thesis is exemplified by Dubai, a place where Islam has converged with contemporary material luxuries, consumerism, and new notions of religious identity.  The secularization of Islam here is obvious as young and middle-aged Muslims, many of whom...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Structure of Feeling in Beverly Hills

by bmckernan With the American fall television season upon us, a recent NY Times article examines the underlying class distinctions found in some of this season’s newest programs. After surveying the offerings, it appears that the days of the middle-class sentimentality of such programs as The Cosby Show are a thing of the past. The article suggests that rather than focusing on supposed middle-class families, television shows today are often mainly interested in the conflicts between members of the upper-class....

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

Sudhir Venkatesh on Gang Leader for a Day

By Feistyle In a video speech, Sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh talks about his time spent studying and living with a Chicago gang called the Black Kings in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  His study was made famous in the book Freakonomics and has been documented in more detail in his book Gang Leader for a Day.  He discusses urban poverty and his methods for research and how these changed as his study went on. Read More   Bryan Hogeveen on Youth (and) Violence   James F....

Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Hyperreality and the Cocoon

by theoryforthemasses An international design collective, NAU, is developing an Immersive Cocoon that would allow users to step into 3D virtual worlds. Within the Immersive Cocoon, users would be able to visit virtual cities, museums, and stores, experiencing the environments as if they were actually there, walking, looking, and shopping. French sociologist Jean Baudrillard suggested that postindustrialized societies enter states of hyperreality marked by the dominance of simulacra, wherein simulations of experiences become more meaningful and important than actual experiences....

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The instrumentalization of sexism

by nmccoy1 Discussions surrounding Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton have brought sexism to mainstream media attention. (see BBC article below)  Beyond the superficial discussions of who women will vote for and who is a feminist, we are losing site of a fundamental and very dangerous problem.  In the tradition of the Frankfurt School, in particular, Max Horkheimer, we are looking at the instrumentalization of ideas and theories for propaganda.  As a system of oppression, sexism pervades social relations and the...

Science & Technology / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Soldiers and Suicide

by delawaregrad More than a century ago, French sociologist Emile Durkheim found that suicides were not simply the result of selfish individual action but were influenced by social forces such as age, gender and religion, and developed categories of suicide.  One of these categories is egoistic suicide, where individuals take their life because they are not well integrated into society due to a breakdown of social ties.  A recent article in the Washington Post found that suicide is on the...

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