It is inconceivable to have a value-free sociology, unlike many natural sciences, because each social theorist, student, and researcher has a unique set of values to which he or she adheres or aspires, which influences his or her social scientific viewpoints and academic outputs. • Humanist, Marxist, and other -isms, -asms, or philosophies influenced and … Read more
By Todd Schoepflin My 13-year-old has suddenly stopped eating meat. This came as a surprise to my wife and me, considering his voracious appetite and penchant for eating a variety of meats. It wasn’t long ago he was eager to participate in the chicken sandwich wars, comparing offerings from popular fast-food establishments. We live in … Read more
By Myron Strong In my Intro to Sociology courses, I often recall a story I told students when I was teaching at Little Rock’s Parkville High School in Little Rock, Arkansas while working on my masters in secondary education. While analyzing a canonized text on King Arthur to a group of 10th graders, I pointed … Read more
By Jenny Enos It is no secret that jobs are not what they used to be. While Karl Marx’s disturbing depiction of alienated and lifeless factory workers in the mid nineteenth century may still ring true to some, our working conditions have arguably only gotten worse. The so-called “gig economy,” in which steady jobs are … Read more
Who was Émile Durkheim, and what did he do? Émile Durkheim was a well-known French philosopher and sociologist dubbed the “Father of the French School of Sociology” for integrating empirical study with sociological theory. The following is a timeline of his life and career, as well as a list of his published works. Early Childhood … Read more
By Karen Sternheimer In his book The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills described the importance of historical events as shaping individuals’ lives. This is not just to say that historical events influence our personalities or preferences, but that sociology calls upon us to consider the interplay between our seemingly private lives and the world around … Read more
By Karen Sternheimer Who we are is shaped by the places we live, and we in turn shape theses places. This is one of the resounding messages in a new book by my colleagues, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Manuel Pastor, South Central Dreams: Finding Home and Building Community in South LA. When many people hear the … Read more
By Janis Prince Inniss Last October, I took my 90-year-old mother to her doctor’s office for the seasonal flu shot. That shot is not given by the doctor, of course, but he came into the patient room to see her with great excitement! She was thrilled to see him, and there was no mistaking her … Read more
By Karen Sternheimer When you picture a military veteran, what image comes to mind? A buff young man? An older man wearing his weathered uniform? Michael Messner’s new book, Unconventional Combat: Intersectional Action in the Veterans’ Peace Movement, gives us insights into the lives of veterans who may not neatly fit into the public image … Read more
By Myron Strong More than a year ago in my post, “Fear, Race, and the Yellow Peril,” I explored many of the historical aspects of anti-Asian hate. Racialization of COVID-19 served as a catalyst for the increase of violence that has manifested in mass shootings, violent attacks, shunning, civil rights violations, verbal, and online attacks. … Read more