The Global Sociology Blog

Plus ca change…

I don’t have anything to say about this except that you don’t read a headline like that every day: Europe’s ‘Medicinal Cannibalism’: The Healing Power of Death – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International via kwout Anthropologists have long studied the customs and meanings related to cannibalism… in other non-Western societies. There difference, as mentioned [...]

Duh… IRIN Asia | Asia | Afghanistan | AFGHANISTAN: Child servitude, marriage resemble modern-day slavery | Children Early Warning Gender Issues Governance Human Rights | Feature via kwout And because no story of slavery is complete without violence, sexual or other… IRIN Asia | Asia | Afghanistan | AFGHANISTAN: Child servitude, marriage resemble modern-day slavery [...]

From their latest album Tonight:, "Ulysses"

One of the things that Virgil Hawkins emphasized in his book, Stealth Conflicts, is the idea that a conflict is more likely to be ignored if it seems "complicated" or "chaotic" to Western eyes. On the other hand, a conflict is more likely to be chosen if it can be simplified as a morality play [...]

Jenn Lena (who’s totally ignoring me on Facebook, by the way Bad joke) is making her first year students blog and I have to say that I am impressed with the few posts that I have read so far on a variety of topics. Well worth checking out: My Sociological Imagination via kwout

Both the World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum have ended and, of course, the main topic under discussion has been the global financial crisis. What conclusions / solutions have they reached? Let’s compare and contrast. World Economic Forum: BBC NEWS | Business | Davos 2009 | Davos finds no answers to crisis via [...]

So, two socbloggers got together in a car and started vlogging about what to do with a sociology degree… obviously what NOT to do with a sociology degree is a car video… Sorry, I’ve never liked vlogging. I’m sure if we get creative, we could have socbloggers events (like mini-online conferences), but I don’t think [...]

This one is via Patrick Nielsen Hayden, an amazing piece that rings so true. (For general stuff on cargo cults, see here, and this video by Richard Dawkins:) And now, the American version: "I. Ignorance is innocence Complicated explanations are suspect The world is simple, and there must be a simple explanation for everything. Certainty [...]

Nick Crossley, (Net)Working Out: Social Capital in a Private Health Club, The British Journal of Sociology, 2008, Vol. 59, Issue 3, pp. 475 – 500. This article on the development of social networks and social capital at a private gym does not really break new ground in research on the topic but it provides a [...]

What Rachel wrote… I’m Gonna Watch This Michael Phelps Marijuana Controversy : Rachel’s Tavern via kwout

Quand bon salaire mérite bon horaire, Société – NouvelObs.com via kwout So now, we can officially count having a good schedule (one that roughly follow daytime and that the employee chooses) as social privilege and getting a lousy one as social disadvantage and factor that into our measures of social stratification. So, professional couples are [...]