The Global Sociology Blog

Mike the Mad Biologist thinks so… Moving Towards a Judge Dredd Economy? : Mike the Mad Biologist via kwout Didn’t Jeremy Rifkin talk about that a few years back in his book The End of Work? And the expression “jobless recovery” is already part of our vocabulary, but anyhoo, what brought on such cheery thoughts [...]

Via Agnese Vardanega, this fascinating article: Soap Opera Sociology | F i a t Lux via kwout And apparently, research shows it has an impact (with usual correlation / causation disclaimer): Soap Opera Sociology | F i a t Lux via kwout It is customary to be condescending towards the genre (and not just because [...]

Again via Richard Florida: Oy

Via Richard Florida on Twitter: National Savings at the Lowest Level Since the Depression « Mandel on Innovation and Growth via kwout

In which economic sociologists will be totally unsurprised: IMF study links lobbying by US banks to high-risk lending | Business | guardian.co.uk via kwout The full paper is here. In the conclusion: Let’s summarize: Overoptimism – a cultural factor (see Karen Cerulo’s Never Saw It Coming) Influence of the financial industry – a political factor [...]

Another great French Socblog (I’m really happy that French sociologists have such cool blogs): Bafouillages via kwout

This interesting story from Global Post: Guatemala restarts international adoptions via kwout Of course, one cannot expect that there is a perfect solution to this but we, Westerners are constantly deploring corruption in poor countries and here is an attempt by a government to clean up a sector of society. So, it’s a good thing, [...]

Well, either they don’t really count because the default human is an adult man: Phronesisaical: Just Wondering via kwout Or, at the back of the bus: Women Sent to the Back of the Bus in Israel | Women’s Rights | Change.org via kwout Either way, these are both instances of social control based on formal [...]

NGM Blog Central – The Cost of Care – National Geographic Magazine – NGM.com via kwout

Via Lambert over at Corrente, NYCWeboy (who should be on everyone’s regular reading list) has a point: NYCweboy: Is Terror A Luxury Problem? via kwout Terrorism as luxury problem… funny how that is hardly ever discussed.. because it’s assumed that the behavior of the upper-middle classes are the norm and if what they do is [...]

I really wanted to like Brenda R. Weber‘s Makeover TV: Selfhood, Citizenship, and Celebrity. The topic seemed attractive with the potential for a pleasant read on a subject for which sociological analysis has solid tools for critical examination. The author has watched over 2,500 hours of makeover television (which includes such shows as What Not [...]

What can I say about Avatar that has not been written already, especially in this often-cited post: When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like “Avatar”? – Avatar – io9 via kwout As mentioned all over the place, this is Dances with Wolves meets The Last Samurai where noble savages who, unlike modern white folks, [...]