The Global Sociology Blog

File this one as part of the patriarchal logic that treats a woman’s body as male property to be modified according to cultural norms, such as being cut through female genital mutilation, or, in this case, fattened:

Girls force-fed for marriage as old traditions take grip in west Africa | World news | The Observer via [...]

It is a combination of factors: patriarchy, traditional rule, cowardice on the part of Western aids organizations, political convenience and just good old fashioned brutality against anyone who dares reporting on it or fighting it:

Genital mutilation: Women fight Africa’s taboo – Africa, World – The Independent via kwout

And it’s torture too in the name of [...]

So, the rich are suffering too:

Trying to Live on 500K in New York City – NYTimes.com via kwout

Then, add the living expenses:

Trying to Live on 500K in New York City – NYTimes.com via kwout

Add children:

Trying to Live on 500K in New York City – NYTimes.com via kwout

Conclusion? Well, maybe these people will have [...]

American taste for soft toilet roll ‘worse than driving Hummers’ | Environment | guardian.co.uk via kwout

Greenpeace has actually a great guide that lists which brand are environmentally ok and which ones are as bad as Hummers.
I’m sure there are environmentally friendly creams for when we all get butt rashes.

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… Joel Best, for Prize Proliferation, Sociological Forum, Vol. 23, No. 1, March 2008, pp. 1- 27.
Prize proliferation, the topic of Best’s articles, is simply the multiplication of awards being created for a variety of achievements or performances in many social and cultural domains and across institutional domains (including within the ASA). For Best, the [...]

Damn, I missed that one:

Locus Science Fiction & Fantasy News: Philip José Farmer, 1918-2009 via kwout

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First, via Jeremy Hunsinger and here for the original,

And then, the indispensable Abstruse Goose :

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So, the ivory trade is making a comeback after years of success in reestablishing elephant populations in various African countries, and it has a lot to do with human conflicts:

How the ivory trade funds bloodshed – Africa, World – The Independent via kwout

And here, when China enters a market as buyer, its impact is [...]

I have already blogged about the "Octomom" and it just so happens that I was discussing deviance with my students today and her case, of course, came into the discussion and that gave me the opportunity to make a few sociological points regarding the labeling process, moral entrepreneurs and power. My first question to the [...]

Indeed, looks like social solidarity is down the tube:

Anomie in the UK: The Steep Decline of the British Economy – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International via kwout

How could this possibly happen? Deregulate… Drive policy as if there was "no such thing as a society… only individuals and their families"… slash and burn the social [...]

And the rest is endangered, so say the International Coral Reef Initiative and l’Initiative française pour les récifs coralliens (via Le Monde). This joint work took four years and some 400 researchers from 96 countries. According to their observations, the world has already lost 19% of its coral reef – one of the world’s richest [...]

Via Susie,

Jeffrey Sachs would too if I could get the IMF shock therapy on Russia out of my mind.

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Apparently, that’s what I am:

ISTJ Profile via kwout

Works for me except for the last paragraph which seems to conservative for my taste although I tend to lean towards the authoritarian left.
What are you?

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Via Le Monde, Switzerland may be the homeland of many pharmaceutical companies as well as the World Health Organization, but it has also become the ground zero for cases of measles. A study published in The Lancet compared measles cases in several EU and non-EU European countries. The authors conclude that contrary to WHO projections, [...]

A great illustrated version (in two parts) that makes it all crystal clear:
Part One

And Part Two:

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