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Stratification and Inequality

Stratification and inequality is a major content area in Sociology. It is concerned primarily with the reality, causes, consequences, and solutions to global inequality on our world. The founding figures of our discipline all had something to say about stratification and inequality, and even today a concern with poverty, hunger, and other manifestations of inequality motivates many individuals to “take up” Sociology.

The Stratification and Inequality section is edited by Dr. Owen Brown. To submit a paper to this section, contact Dr. Brown at owenbrownphd[at]gmail.com

Radicalization – Causes and Consequences

Yesterday, 7th of July 2013 was the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attack in London. The attacks led the British government to launch initiatives to identify why and how one becomes radicalized[1] and develop measures to counter the terrorism threat. ...

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The Ideology of Darwin

darwin

Humanity used to believe in God, but now they believe in Darwin. This is a bit of an extreme statement, since most people still believe in God, but the sentiment is accurate. Darwin's theories of the MECHANISMS of evolution has had a major impact on the social, emotional, and even spiritual fabric of this planet. There is a problem though. In a lot of ways Darwin's theories seem more like canon, or ideology, than good science. This article explores early awareness of the ideological nature of Darwinian theory, and provides some suggestions on how scientists can break free of dogma that has more to do with religion than with good science.

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A Turn to Hegel

Dollars funnel.

What is money? What is the nature of money? This is a problem that has occupied Sociologists since Karl Marx wrote his magnum opus, Das Kapital. If you go by Karl M's massive, or by any of the many Economics 100 texts (which often don't even bother to define money), money is a mystified, magical thing that requires incredible effort to understand. In reality though that's not the case. Money is simply abstracted labour, pure and simple. Once you understand that, then you have the key to understanding the whole of modern society, including the pernicious problems we all face, problems caused by the easy way money allows us to accumulate labour.

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Race: The World’s Deadliest Social Disease

Racism is a socially-constructed disease of the mind. Racism is an infectious disease that is caused by a specific form of ignorance: a groundless, pre-scientific belief that race is based in fundamental biological differences among humans. Nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to biology, humans are all like (Gregor Mendel's) peas in a pod. Fortunately, since racism is a socially-constructed, ignorance-cultivated disease, there also happens to be a cure: science and education. With adequate doses of science and education, it just might be possible to cure the scourge of racism within our lifetimes.

Racism is a socially-constructed disease of the mind. Racism is an infectious disease that is caused by a specific form of ignorance: a groundless, pre-scientific belief that race is based in fundamental biological differences among humans. Nothing could be further ...

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