The Global Sociology Blog

If the European Parliament did not have enough problems, like basic legitimacy that would draw voters to the polls, it faces another major issue, according to Daniele Archibugi: Which language for Europe? | open Democracy News Analysis via kwout And because we are talking about the European Union, there have to be identity issues… there [...]

Life & Death Simulations | Mother Jones via kwout Breathing Earth can be found here (and it really is great). And watch the video:

The best tune of their latest album:

When goods are not easily adopted in countries of the Global South, it does not mean they are rejected entirely. In economics of scarcity, everything get reused, re-directed, purposes are redefined until it is no longer usable for anything. Case in point 1, note the ILO bags (this was taken in Lusaka, Zambia) Case in [...]

That is the very cogent analysis of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino by the Grumpy Sociologist: The Grumpy Sociologist: Hegemonic Masculinity Run Amok in Gran Torino via kwout Go read the whole review.

African Progress Panel Annual Report 2009 –

Here are a few interesting links I have come across the Intertoobz: The Open Source Sociology Project with Blog The Sociology Blog Not Your Typical Sociologist Sociology 4 All (This one goes into the Global Sociology Blogroll since its main author is in Sri Lanka, from what I can tell)

Omar Bongo no doubt was a perfect symbol of France’s neo-colonialist policies in French-speaking Africa and its former colonies. With his death, one can only hope that France’s persistent hand in African nations’ business might end but I am not so sure. As for the expression "Françafrique", it has a somewhat long history tied to [...]

Global weapons spending hits record levels | World news | guardian.co.uk via kwout Maybe so, but when it comes to the top 10 spenders, it’s a no-brainer: Global weapons spending hits record levels | World news | guardian.co.uk via kwout The US accounted for 58% of the increase. And despite an increase in peacekeeping personnel, [...]

Social capital is everything. At least, that is the conclusion of Cory Doctorow’s Down And Out in The Magic Kingdom. In this future society, disease and death have been eliminated. People can get rejuvenated and live several lifetimes, go live in space or check out for a few centuries or millenia. Those resistant to such [...]

Those of us who teach survey courses in the social sciences which comprise sections on socialization often start by discussing the few known cases of feral children (children raised in isolation) as illustrative of the power of social interaction, language and social relations in the formation of biological beings into human (as in "social") beings. [...]

First, listen to what Playing for Change is all about… Then, just listen…

A few days ago, I blogged about a Kenyan editorial suggesting that men have made a mess of things and that it is now up to the women to get us all out of it. It seems some women are already at work and, in a way eerily similar to some aspects of the false [...]

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Kung Fu star Carradine found dead via kwout

Because we wouldn’t want the tourists’ vacations to be disrupted by the poverty beneath the surface of a global resort. The solution? Social killings, a form of social cleansing targeting the poor. Death to undesirables: Brazil’s murder capital – Americas, World – The Independent via kwout And, unsurprisingly, street children are the prime target for [...]