All Entries in the "The Lightning Strike" Category
Good Science for Social Research Methods
Interesting, innovative, and fun, Good Science is an important new text for Social Research Methods courses because of its novel analysis of science, empirical facts, and the evolution of scientific truth. Accessible epistemology. Critical ontology! A must for any discerning instructor. Check it out.
Debt, debt, debt, the problem is debt.
The world is in turmoil, the Euro in crises, and now the heathen masses are occupying Wall street and demanding change. But what kind of change to demand? What to do to alleviate the suffering? How to fix the current crises? Well, first step is to figure out what the problem is, and that’s easy.
Policing Sexuality
In a moment when state policies seeking to regulate sexual expression have emerged under many cultural and religious banners, affecting a wide range of sexual subjects, Julian Lee gives us an invaluable map to understand this moral policing more clearly and comprehensively. Policing Sexuality is exceptional among recent works on sexuality, gender and public policy [...]
Right-wing Politics in the New Latin America
‘Too often progressives demonise or just ignore the political right. This new collection redresses this deficit with a series of extremely well informed snapshots of the right in action across Latin America.
SPRINGTIME: The New Student Rebellions
Ah springtime. The gentle feel of the breeze, the light touch of government cutting, the horrible pain and suffering that results. There’s lots of money out there, trillions in fact, just not in the hands of the people who need it the most. Hey, gotta fund the government bailouts of the rich bankers somehow. Or not. We do live in a democracy after all and protest is an important feature. Here’s a sociological take on a growing world wide phenomenon.
Our Readers
Who is interested in Sociology? Why, everybody! We’ve got men, women, undecideds, elementary school students, university students, professors and professionals. Discerning individuals from the natural sciences read us as do mathematicians, rocket scientists, and family managers. Sociology really does have something for everyone.
Nuclear Nightmares: Damned Lies about the World’s “Safest” Energy Source
Implausible as it may seem, as the Fukushima Daiichi disaster has grown ever more cataclysmic, nuclear energy advocates have come out of the woodwork to tout the virtues of nuclear as a “safe” form of energy. Safe? Are you kidding me? Last night, rain containing measurable levels of radiation from Fukushima Daiichi fell on the [...]
Opening your eyes to the new Surveillance Networks
Now here’s a kick in the head. They know where you are. And by “they” I mean everybody. Anybody with even a minimum online presence in today’s surveillance/social networks leaves a global footprint that anybody can trace. Sounds reasonable if you are thinking about the police I suppose. Why worry if you don’t have anything to hide right? But what about organized criminals? Far more useful it is for them to know when you are out on your own, away from home, vulnerable, and alone. Don’t have any enemies? No exes looking to beat you down? Don’t know anybody that wants to take things from you? Then you have nothing to fear! Tweet away but just be aware, “they” are watching you.
Better writing through intent
As a rule academics are not trained to write well. You might even say academics are trained to confuse, hiding their thoughts behind walls of pretentious gobbledygook. It is not our fault. It is part of our training. From the moment we step into our first 100 level class to the the time when we finally hand in our dissertation and head out for a celebratory libation, our only goal is to impress somebody else and make ourselves look smart. It is the nature of the academic beast I suppose but it does not contribute to communication, connection, or education. If we want to change that we have to intend a different result and practice a different approach.
Demography and Democracy: Essays on Nationalism, Gender and Ideology
“In stunning readings of culture, politics, identity, gender and ethnicity, Bannerji exposes the grave dangers lurking in demographic politics of blood, soil and ethnic fundamentalism. But in the interstices of this lifeworld, Bannerji also locates alternative ways of seeing and becoming that suggest new projects of democracy—radical, popular, and socialist—that might take us beyond oppression [...]
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