Tagged: globalization

Opinion

Virtual Conference Report: Day Three (21 Oct, 2009)

Today’s papers have focused once more on the key motifs of the conference, that of breaking down borders and indisciplinarity. Nancy Naples (University of Connecticut) uses her paper: ‘Borderlands Studies and Border Theory: Linking Activism and Scholarship for Social Justice’ to highlight just some of the difficulties faced when ‘negotiate[ing] different disciplinary frames, methods, and theoretical assumptions in order to move forward toward collaborative problem solving’. The second paper today entitled ‘Theorizing Borders in a ‘Borderless World’: Globalization, Territory and Identity’...

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

The G8 protests and the logically inconsistent foundations of neoclassical economics

This post has moved to http://williampaulbell.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/the-g8-protests-and-the-logically-inconsistent-foundations-of-neoclassical-economics/ <About>  <Portfolio>  <Academia>  <LinkedIn>  <Twitter>  <Blog> Member of the World Economics Association – promoting ethics, openness, diversity of thought and democracy within the economics profession

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture

Veiled Beauty: Saudi Arabia and Plastic Surgery

by NickieWild As Westerners, it is difficult for us to imagine a situation where women are regarded as the mysterious “Other” more than in Saudi Arabia, where wearing the hijab is required and what we consider basic rights, such as full employment and driving privileges, are not universal. There, Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of a gendered hierarchy is unusually present. Thus, it might seem strange to learn that plastic surgery procedures in that country are on the rise for women....

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

Shifting Migration Patterns in a Changing Economic Climate

by smteixeirapoit In the past, many immigrants traveled to the United States because they hoped to achieve upward mobility. In the current economic climate, many immigrants are not upwardly mobile. Some immigrants are unable to secure employment and other foreign workers are facing a backlash. For the first time, the United States is experiencing a decline in immigration. Many immigrants are avoiding immigrating to the United States in the first place or are deciding to leave the United States for...

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

Globalization, Humyn Trafficking, and The UN

The critical theorists argue that the progress of modernity actually serves as a source of domination and dehumynization.  One can see the validity of this theoretical perspective when thinking about the global issue of humyn trafficking.  The deputy director of International Organization for Migration announced that there is an estimated 600,000 to four million people trafficked annually.   Last week the UN General Assembly met to discuss the possibility of creating a “global plan of action” to end humyn trafficking.   The majority present...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology

The Inequality and Irony of Free Trade

by socanonymous Due to increasing fears surrounding the spread of the influenza A (H1N1) or Swine Flu, participating countries in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations are banning pork products and increasing trade restrictions, all in an atempt to contain the virus.  The irony of the situation, as some environmentalists and other critics argue, is that the lax rules and regulations surrounding free trade agreements such as NAFTA are partially to blame for creating the necessary conditions leading to such an...

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...

Opinion

Look for a Guest Post by George Ritzer

Just a quick notice: Look for a Guest Post from George Ritzer on April 15th right here on the Sociology Lens blog. The post,  titled “Are Today’s Globalized Cathedrals of Consumption Tomorrow’s Global Dinosaurs?”, deals with the recent transition from hyper- to declining-consumption.  ~nathan

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Orientalism, Globalism, Hybridization

by linanne10 Tokyo may be one of the most extreme examples of a hybridized international city, in an age of rapid globalization. Cultural negotiation and reconciliation between Western notions of modernization and traditional Japanese civilization (or to some extent, Asian civilization) found their way in this kaleidoscopical urban space, whether in tension or in peace. The film, Tokyo! (opening on March, 6 in New York City), is a triptych by three foreign directors, Bong Joon-ho, Leos Carax and Michel Gondry,...

Political & Economic Sociology

The Nation in the Global Economy

nmccoy1 In the era of globalization, the predominant discourse emphasizes the subordination of nation states’ interests to transnational corporations and bodies.  According to globalization scholars such as Philip McMichael, a virtual discursive space has been constructed in which responsibility for economic and political decisions and crises are not only shared but simultaneously avoided.  The global economy has become the catchall culprit, hero, and future of any number of international and domestic incidents.  In this context, the recent announcement by the...

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change

Transnational Migration and Conflict

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzl5BZFRPI] by socanonymous Ongoing fighting in Sri Lanka has brought together about 45,000 Tamils from across Toronto, to protest what they call the genocide of Tamil people. They came together to form a human chain in Toronto’s downtown city core. The powerful emotions shown in the video give a glimpse of the struggles that many transnational migrants have gone through and escaped from. Globalization has facilitated diasporas to maintain political and social ties transnationally, in spite of geographical proximity. These...

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

Olympics and Branding

by delawaregrad Mass tourism encompasses the consumption of large quantities of branded goods including souvenirs and food and drink. This idea of mass consumption is most notably seen during large international sporting events where a type of “global village” is produced in which people world-wide watch multiple sporting events. According to Roche (2006), these global media events illustrate elements of ‘basic globalization’ where events promote universal values and provide cultural standards (spread of a consumer culture of the sport and...