Tagged: inequality

Opinion

Words of the Year: Questions for "Assembled Experts" and Those Whose Expertise Those Assembled Experts Need…

“Oh, I hate that,” my colleague moaned, leaning on the hay- in “hate” with a weary sigh. The that in question was a grammatical construction I had not encountered in my previous TESOL experiences: from as a noun, linked to a country of origin on the other side of a being verb. My from is…Bolivia, El Salvador, Peru, Guatemala. “I don’t know where they get it from,” my colleague continued. “It’s not like they ever heard it from a native...

Class & Stratification / Science & Technology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture

The Potential of Epigenetics for Sociology

A careful understanding of epigenetic mechanisms allows sociologists to include a new biological perspective into research designs – when it is incorporated carefully and not used casually or blindly as a deus ex machina explanatory device that is. Epigenetics provides us with one of several “mechanisms by which social influences become embodied” (Kuzawa and Sweet 2008: 2). A promising place for sociologists to enter into this research or use it fruitfully is to examine how social environments and inequalities become embodied...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Another Two Cents on England (and Crawley): Masculinity, Culture, and Tucson

As is often the case with graduate students, I just spent several months in a dissertation-induced haze and only recently had a chance to go through the latest issues of Gender & Society. Among these was the February 2011 issue that included a symposium on Paula England’s 2010 article on the “uneven/stalled gender revolution.” England’s over-reliance on the structural and institutional aspects of gender was underscored by several savvy pieces of Sociology, including a response by Sara Crawley that emphasizes...

Class & Stratification / Race & Ethnicity Studies

Institutional Racism, Political framing, and Spending cuts

Institutional racism is one of the key concepts sociology professors try to impart to students.  Institutional racism refers to systemic processes which perpetuate racial inequality even in the absence of racial prejudice and intentional individual-level discrimination.  The concept helps students understand how decisions made in the past affects present-day inequality and furthermore that present-day decisions do not take place in a race-neutral realm.  Examining how institutions function discourages the use of anecdotal evidence and encourages students to employ a social-level...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies

Declining Racial Segregation and Racial Inequality

“Many US Blacks Moving to South, Reversing Trend” reads a recent headline from the New York Times.  This article evokes more than a reversal of geographic mobility as it cites a “New South.” This article follows, an article from a few days earlier entitled, “Black and White and Married in the Deep South: A Shifting Image.” Based on 2010 Census data, these articles suggest an America where the reversal of racial migration flows and long-standing taboos may signal an end...

Class & Stratification / Sociology of Culture

The Problem with "Failing Schools"

Most states define “failing schools” as those with a certain percentage of students scoring below grade level on state tests.  In other words, a failing school is a school with a large percentage of failing students.  However, since no politician would define the problem as “failing children,” the debate centers around “who is failing these students and why is that failure concentrated in certain schools?”

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

The Push and Pull of Multiculturalism in Western States

Saturday, February 5th, British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at a security conference in Munich. In light of the growing evidence that the United Kingdom has become a “safe haven” for Islamic militants, Mr. Cameron’s remarks strongly criticized Britain’s multicultural approach to the nation’s immigrants. The policy, initiated in the 1960s, recognizes the right of all people in Britain to live by their own traditional values. Many argue that this strategy is responsible for the fractured sense of British identity and lack...

Opinion

Virtual Conference Report: Day Five (23 Oct, 2009)

The first week of the conference has come to an end, and the final day has included two exciting papers, as well as a publishing workshop. The first paper entitled ‘Full Disclosure of the “Raw Data” of Research on Humans: Citizens’ Rights, Product Manufacturer’s Obligations and the Quality of the Scientific Database’ was presented by Dennis Mazur (Oregon Health and Sciences University). In his lecture, Mazur highlights the difficult and contentious issues involved in human testing, particularly the tensions between...

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

High Court Decriminalizes Homosexual Acts

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...

Class & Stratification / Science & Technology

Health Care Reform: An Uphill Battle Against the Health Insurance Industry?

by smteixeirapoit In the United States, many citizens do not have health insurance. Some people cannot afford health insurance. A recent CNN article explains that other people are unable to obtain health insurance because they have pre-existing medical conditions. People that have group insurance plans are able to receive health care coverage even with pre-existing conditions. However, some people do not have group insurance plans because their employers do not provide health insurance, they are self-employed, or they are unable...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Gender Wage Gap

by smteixeirapoit A recent news article discusses the findings of three surveys used by the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom. The results suggest that the gender wage gap does not necessarily exist when examining comparable occupations. The findings state that, if the gender wage gap does exist, it is because of motherhood rather than womanhood. The news article concludes that females would like to be employed because of their merits instead of being patronized by “quota feminists”....

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

the (post-structural) new-media digital-divide

by nathan jurgenson A major study (.pdf) on the way teens use social networking sites suggests that, “…their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They’re learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.” [quote is from this article’s coverage] Parents can no longer view MySpace as just a waste of time. In fact, so important are the skills...