The Global Sociology Blog

From BBC News:
“The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, with the ultimate aim of abolishing capital punishment.”
Yay!!… Oh wait…
“It voted 104 in favour and 54 against with 29 abstentions on a resolution which, while non-binding, reflects the view of most member states. Unusually, the US sided [...]

Per the New York Times:
“The United States is pushing Japan to suspend its hunt of humpback whales, and the American ambassador to Tokyo said an agreement to stop it may have already been reached. Japan dispatched its whaling fleet to the southern Pacific last month in the first major hunt of the endangered species since [...]

As someone interested in issues of global poverty, development and aid, I am of two minds when it comes to microcredit: the lending of small amounts of money, mostly to women, in the poorest countries in the world, in order for these women to start a small business and become self-sufficient. As is now well-known, [...]

From the Independent, another slavery story, this one, closer to home:

“Three Florida fruit-pickers, held captive and brutalised by their employer for more than a year, finally broke free of their bonds by punching their way through the ventilator hatch of the van in which they were imprisoned. Once outside, they dashed for freedom.
When they found [...]

From the New York Times:
“President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela confirmed that he had received a statement from the Colombian rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, saying it would release three hostages to him or whomever he chooses. Earlier, Prensa Latina, a Cuban news agency, reported that the group had ordered the release [...]

A little something to remind us of the economics of food production and distribution:
“The soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in poor countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned.
Food prices have risen an unprecedented 40% in the last year and many nations may be unable to cope, the [...]

From BBC Health:
“Short-legged ‘may run liver risk’

Women with shorter legs may have an increased risk of liver disease, an extensive UK study suggests.”
Noted without comments

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Good news #1:
“Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned a woman who was gang raped and then sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man who was not related to her, in a case that sparked rare criticism from the United States, the kingdom’s top ally.”
But lest we forget [...]

Well, here is a nice follow-up from the New York Times on the topic of counterfeits in the context of the global economy:
clipped from www.nytimes.com
 
But an examination of the case reveals its link to a complex supply chain of fake drugs that ran from China through Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the [...]

This past Friday, the French newspaper Le Monde had an excellent but chilling article on the rise of counterfeiting as a major activity for the main organized criminal networks. Economically, counterfeiting appears to be a very profitable activity, even more profitable than illegal drugs. Moreover, counterfeiting is nowhere near as risky as drug or arms [...]

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber had this to say on the Bali UN Conference on climate change:
clipped from crookedtimber.org

The outcome of the international climate talks in Bali has been a huge win for the planet. Given the participation of the Bush Administration, we were never going to get firm short-term targets in the agreement of [...]

I just finished reading Amy Chua’s Day of Empire – How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance – and Why They Fall. I liked Amy Chua’s previous book (World on Fire), so, I was eager to read this one as soon as it arrived in the mail.
The first basic idea of the book is that of [...]

After much procrastinating, I guess I had to jump in and start blogging at last. What do I want to blog about? Anything related to my current professional and personal interests: anything pertaining to globalization from a sociological perspective (I am a sociologist after all).
I also hope to bring in contributors as well as my [...]