Archive for June, 2010
Solving Social Problems
Announcing a New Book Series Series Editor: Bonnie Berry, Director of the Social Problems Research Group, USA Solving Social Problems provides a forum for the description and measurement of social problems, with a keen focus on the concrete remedies proposed for their solution. The series takes an international perspective, exploring social problems in various parts [...]
Searching For Paulo Freire: Classnotes For My Students
An educator speaks about pedagogy, critical thinking, and connecting with students. Education is about creating a safe place for exploration, for confronting the hard social, political, and psychological realities of our existence. But it’s also about honesty, exposure, and trust. It is not easy moving beyond the rigid and stereotyped roles of the cardboard educator, but we try to be more than the boxes we find ourselves in.
Capitalism 101: The Money Tree
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, Ben Bernanke, America’s leading scholar of the Great Depression, has been credited with saving the nation’s economy. As a reward for his sterling work, on August 25, 2009, President Obama appointed Ben Bernanke to a second term as the Chair of the Federal Reserve. Three cheers for [...]
The Abuse Syndrome – learned helplessness in the face of global oppression
You think we live in a functioning democracy? You think you’re a powerful actor in a sea of democratic choice? Think again. According to this psychologist we are nations of people broken by a socialization process that teaches passivity, fear of authority, and a-social competition, a medical process that applies chemical straitjackets to the emotional sequelea of oppression, and a psychological establishment that pathologizes children who refuse to conform.
Sweatshops and Post-Industrial Society: Conflicting Contemporary Phenomena
The scholarly propaganda is simple, technology makes the world a better place. We are moving towards a post-industrial utopia characterized by human care and service, and away from our dark, industrial, and exploitative past. Hogwash says this student who, after familiarizing herself with the debates notes that despite the propaganda of a caring and connected world, the reality is more of the same. Sweatshops, child labour, and the violation of human rights go hand in our with our Western technological fetish.
The University, Accountability, and Market Discipline in the Late 1990s
This article originally appeared in Volume Three of The Electronic Journal of Sociology. It is reproduced here as part of the debate on the challenges of higher education.
Colorado Stealth University
Sociology studies power, and one of the places that power is exercised in our society is in the boardroom. Is it any wonder then that a sociologist, looking at a boardroom in a university, questions the use and application of power? Secret meetings, legislating autonomy, million dollar payouts, these are all aspects of the use, or should I say misuse, of power. It just goes to show that not even the hallowed halls of higher education are immune from the negative sequelea of uneven power distribution.
The Business of Higher Education
Higher education faces challenges. From the competitive ethic of commercialism to the increasing demands for accessible and flexible education, colleges and universities face pressure to change. But is the solution to our educational woes to be found in even stronger alignment of business models with educational models?
Functionalism 2.0 – Rethinking an America Tradition of Conservative Thought
Functionalism has long had a bad name in sociology as the handmaiden of elite interests, justifying all manner of inequality and power abuse by implying (and sometimes suggesting outright) that these things are “functional” for our society. As this article demonstrates however, this need not be the case. Functionalism can provide a useful rubric for understanding modern society and need not be the handmaiden of conservative thought.
What to know about the nature of money, the value of money, and money's role in our modern economies of exchange, then download The Rocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy and let the truth set you free. [download]
Sociology for the revolutionary in you. Sociology 288: Social Movements from Athabasca University is designed to teach you about social movements, why they emerge, why they fail, and what you can do in the global struggle for equality and justice. Learn from the successful examples like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and avoid common pitfalls and errors. Textbooks included in the price of the course.
