The Global Sociology Blog

BBC NEWS | Europe | Zurich allows anti-minaret poster via kwout Geez, ya’ think? The color scheme reminded me of another Swiss poster, and sure enough, it was from the same political party but this time, against immigration:

“It is the thesis of this book that the United States is groping its way toward a new kind of hybrid state, neither a ‘protector’ state, in the Old World sense of the term, nor a ‘minimalist’ and noninterventionist state, conforming to the ideological tale spun by zealots of the market. Its social side and [...]

Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities via kwout Kinda says it all, no? And this, as well: Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities via kwout [...]

Via Toban Black (thanks for the link!): Apparently, the masters of the surveillance society do not appreciate to have the tables turned on them (even with public information)… Understanding the Twitter crackdown / Waging Nonviolence via kwout The thing is that in the global neoliberal era, where the state has abdicated a lot of its [...]

“Comparative analysis of the evolution of penality in the advanced countries over the past decade reveals a close link between the ascendancy of neoliberalism, as ideological project and governmental practice mandating submission to the ‘free market’ and the celebration of ‘individual responsibility’ in all realms, on the one hand, and the deployment of punitive and [...]

Via The Situationist, an interesting video:

Unsafe Abortion Costs the Developing World Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Each Year via kwout Yes, a thousand times , yes, legal abortion is a social good.

Updating Cyber Times: It’s Time to Bring Our Culture Into Cyberspace via kwout Warning: the whole list is a time sink. Barry Wellman’s site here.

Sociology Superstar Craig Calhoun asks what is a good economy: Craig Calhoun, President » Blog Archive » What’s a Good Economy? via kwout Asking the right question is, of course, crucial because then it opens the door to public discussion about policy, what works and what does not, measurably. One could argue that that is [...]

In which Loïc Wacquant proves yet again that he is one of the greatest sociologists around: “The public agitation over criminal “security” (insécurité, Sicherheit, seguridad) that has rippled across the political scene of the member countries of the European Union at century’s close, twenty years after flooding the civic sphere in the United States, presents [...]

Very instructive and relevant to courses on stratification or the economy: Neoliberalism As Water Balloon from Tim McCaskell on Vimeo.

Yet another ignored African conflict: Guinée : l’horreur des femmes tuées, violées, battues, humiliées – Veilleur de jour – Blog LeMonde.fr via kwout Says the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights: Untitled via kwout

Although this article is annoying because of the whole therapeutic angle, there is a little bit of an important point. Living in precarious conditions takes a toll on mental health. It’s a nice counterpoint to the millenial myth that “kids these days” thrive in what we would call the Risk society. Well, not so: BBC [...]

I picked up Michael Welch‘s Scapegoats of September 11th – Hate Crimes & State Crimes in The War on Terror based on Todd Krohn’s recommendation (He’s made Welch his Sociologist of the Semester). In this book, Welch retraces the emergence of the discourse that emerged after 9/11 that ultimately materialized into the apparatus of the [...]