tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81224947946787910212024-03-14T06:44:58.260-06:00Sociology Club Making sociology and social issues graspable.Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-26020437214247370922020-02-05T01:48:00.001-07:002020-02-05T01:48:52.556-07:00Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s thoughts on racism and journalistic corruption<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwQk_ObtoxBe0Z7kw89RgRI6AkKe_RAq8k710ys0Yuh9E18a8byhzZYE9NPePPFvtqrdCHAN9S4Pd9B_KjUUyGYJAdyV3Bat61sSPrPyo3WcaQiPrRsaiQxRFffG_BQY4Yll2RGrWGDc/s1600/Kareem+Abdul-Jabbar%25E2%2580%2599s+3+thoughts+On+Society.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwQk_ObtoxBe0Z7kw89RgRI6AkKe_RAq8k710ys0Yuh9E18a8byhzZYE9NPePPFvtqrdCHAN9S4Pd9B_KjUUyGYJAdyV3Bat61sSPrPyo3WcaQiPrRsaiQxRFffG_BQY4Yll2RGrWGDc/s640/Kareem+Abdul-Jabbar%25E2%2580%2599s+3+thoughts+On+Society.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has
always fought for social justice. Here are his three thoughts on society.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar is <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar" target="_blank">an NBA legend</a></span>.
But aside from all the accolades, he has earned in the sport of basketball, he
is also an advocate of social justice. He has headed many protests and wrote
many books and essays on the matter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Abdul-Jabbar
was raised prior to and during the Civil Rights movement. As a young teen in high
school, he attended many demonstrations to fight against the injustices against
African-Americans. He also wrote many essays criticizing the maltreatment of
minorities. He continued to express his displeasure while he was in college,
during his time in the NBA, and after he retired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here
are his three thoughts on racism in America and journalistic corruption:</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1) “Black people don't have
an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or
distorted.”</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is a similar sentiment to what Malcolm X believed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is a saying that goes something like this –“history is written by the winners.”
And because of this, the stories of the oppressed are often inaccurate. The reason why is because the history that we learn in schools are told from the memories
of the winners; it is shared through the perspective of the colonizer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
by saying that it is “suppressed or distorted,” he is challenging educators and
history writers to do a better job. He is also informing the general public and
challenging them, too, to put in more effort to learn the true history of their
people (and others’ as well).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">2) “The problem is that
the longer we continue to deny the problem of racism exists, the longer it
takes to solve it. It’s like ignoring that Texas-shaped mole on your cheek that
keeps getting darker and more tender. You could just give it a cute name and
ignore it, hoping it magically goes away on its own. Or you could seek
aggressive treatment that would probably save your face and even your life.”</span></b></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Too
many people deny the existence of racism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">They
will say it no longer exists because blatant racism is “rare.” Or that there
are more successful minorities now, so racism must be a thing of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
racism is still here and it is still strong. Just because there was a black
president, that doesn’t mean that African-Americans are no longer oppressed. Racial
stereotypes still exist, police brutality cases are still being reported in the
news, and there are still many (so many) African-Americans living in poverty
because of discriminatory social policies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">3) “The greatest threat
to our basic freedoms and to democracy comes from the relentless attacks on the
news media from politicians and business leaders who fear journalistic
scrutiny.”</span></b></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Okay,
so the mainstream news industry is messed up and corrupt. Most of us can agree
with that. But why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Abdul-Jabbar
believes that it’s because of politicians and business leaders who fear
journalists saying negative things about them and their business. And to
prevent this, they pay journalists to only say good things. Or they buy the
news organization and suppress the truth; they control the narrative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s
why when an election is around the corner, a lot of mainstream news channels
will talk about one politician more than others. They will also say more
positive things about a specific politician, while giving unfair assessments to
others (or sometimes telling straight-up lies).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Read
More: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="http://www.everythingsociology.com/2018/03/james-baldwin-3-thoughts-society.html" target="_blank">James Baldwin’s 3 thoughts on society</a></span></span></b></h4>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">So,
those are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s three thoughts on race, racism, and the
mainstream media. Did these thoughts reveal anything about society to you? Let
me know down in the comments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you're interested in learning more about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, check out these
books on (and by) him:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">[These links are
affiliate links. What this means is that I will get a small commission if you
decide to use the link to buy the product, at no extra cost to you.]<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Becoming
Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Writings
on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
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Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-18776212527194471962019-09-10T00:21:00.001-06:002020-02-26T14:48:30.797-07:00What is Globalization?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCGpJ-uLw9sZgIDz7MlnkR75T2aB2AhnWKTaxKIbXluGe_cNiiLvldkOLFUrbncDupsjmEnB0KZe14dT6TiD7yPhB7ud_55-OhFU5gjvtYteMuRu9E5gOOO9AJ2dKbLJ0aZS-WPs4e1I/s1600/What+is+Globalization_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCGpJ-uLw9sZgIDz7MlnkR75T2aB2AhnWKTaxKIbXluGe_cNiiLvldkOLFUrbncDupsjmEnB0KZe14dT6TiD7yPhB7ud_55-OhFU5gjvtYteMuRu9E5gOOO9AJ2dKbLJ0aZS-WPs4e1I/s640/What+is+Globalization_.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<i>The following on globalization and the different types of government are excerpts from my book, ‘SOCI 001: The Armchair Sociologist’s Guide to Sociology.’ You can <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XCJ65YT" target="_blank"><b>click here</b></a> to learn more about it. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<h3>
Globalization</h3>
<br />
Globalization is a process in which businesses or organizations spread influence internationally. This could mean selling their products abroad or having part of their operation in a foreign country. <br />
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For example, the sportswear company Nike, which is an American company, has factories in China. There, their shoes and apparel are made. Nike also has stores in China where citizens of the nation can buy Nike products. <br />
<br />
Additionally, globalization is also the spread of cultures and traditions across the globe. An example of this would be foreign food and snacks. If you walk through most food courts in shopping centres, you’ll notice that there’s a large variety of food from different cultures. You’ll see American food, Asian food, Middle Eastern food, etc. This is one-way cultures are spread globally.<br />
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<h3>
Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism</h3>
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Capitalism, socialism, and communism are three types of government and economy. <br />
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Capitalism is a form of economy and politics that encourage free trade. In this type, governments will promote the development of private companies so that they can develop products or services that will create new industries in the nation. This, in turn, will create jobs for citizens, but more importantly, will strengthen the economy as they have resources to trade with other nations.<br />
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Currently, there are no pure capitalistic economies in the world as those that claim to be capitalistic are mixed. An example of a mixed economy would be Canada. There is free enterprise in the nation, meaning citizens are allowed to start private companies, and free trade is encouraged. But there are also lots of social programs, such as universal healthcare and public education.<br />
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Socialism is similar to capitalism in that these governments also encourage the development of new services and products. However, the development and distribution of these resources will be heavily regulated by the government. The officials in power will oversee every aspect of the service or product. They will have a say in how it is made, how it is used, how it is traded, etc. They will even have a say in how much it will cost.<br />
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An example of a socialist country would be Sweden. In this nation, much of the economy is public, meaning the government runs much of the corporations. There is a lot of public social programs and public social welfare.<br />
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Communism is a form of government and economy where privatization of property does not exist. Everything is public (or in other words state-run) and all citizens have a fair share of the pie. No one, not even the state officials, will have more capital or ownership than their neighbour.<br />
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There are no pure communist nations that exist in the world. The reason being is that the nations that fly the banner of communism either trade internationally or are authoritative governments. This means that the citizens have equal power and resources, but the state officials have more power and resources than the citizens. An example of this would be North Korea.</div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<b>If you want to read more about globalization, check out these blog posts: </b><br />
<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://namtblog.com/2019/08/how-does-globalization-affect-identity" target="_blank">How does globalization affect identity?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://namtblog.com/2019/08/identity-and-the-forces-of-globalization" target="_blank">Identity and the Forces of Globalization</a></li>
<li><a href="https://namtblog.com/2019/08/identity-the-media-and-communication-technology" target="_blank">Identity, the Media, and Communication Technology</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-31692770302182394132018-04-30T15:44:00.000-06:002019-06-16T23:20:02.298-06:00What is a social movement and how does one develop?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vFL1drAtT-s86MRcMMgkCXsNxlTvDaAMEBvO07U89uhtahPPtySFoAxVTAVrCzAJUdupJvNHNzNBwQWuNLeuFdpIlttlBUmp1WY0uObXTCHg2raXT2x4Ka0tpF1VIrVGRBAV2qwmhwY/s1600/What+is+a+social+movement+and+how+does+one+develop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="650" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vFL1drAtT-s86MRcMMgkCXsNxlTvDaAMEBvO07U89uhtahPPtySFoAxVTAVrCzAJUdupJvNHNzNBwQWuNLeuFdpIlttlBUmp1WY0uObXTCHg2raXT2x4Ka0tpF1VIrVGRBAV2qwmhwY/s640/What+is+a+social+movement+and+how+does+one+develop.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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What is a social movement? You know when you’re watching the news (or seeing breaking news on social media) and hear the reporters talking about a recent march that was protesting against injustice (ex. Women’s March)? Well, they were talking about a social movement.<br />
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A social movement is a demonstration by large groups of people to either create or resist social change, fight for social justice, and/or to provide a political voice for an oppressed group. But social movements are much more complex than what you see on TV or on your mobile device. There are stages to it and there are different types of movements.<br />
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According to sociologist Sidney Tarrow, he defined social movements in his book Power in Movement as “collective challenges by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interaction with elites, opponents and authorities.”<br />
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Although the term social movements were first introduced by German Sociologist Lorenz von Stein in 1848, Tarrow’s studies on the subject have been much more popular, such as his study of the cyclical life of a social movement.<br />
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<h4>
What are the stages of a social movement?</h4>
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In addition to Tarrow, Herbert Blumer, Charles Tilly, and Armand Mauss have also contributed to the study of social movements. They are best known for their research on the stages of social movements.<br />
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Blumer, Tilly, and Mauss believe that there are 4 stages:<br />
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1) Emergence – this is when a social movement is created.<br />
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2) Coalescence – in this stage, the social movement begins to grow.<br />
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3) Bureaucratization – this is when it achieves success or failure.<br />
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4) Decline – this is when the social movement no longer exists.<br />
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<h4>
What are the different types of social movements?</h4>
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When you see social protests on TV, they may all look the same to you –just a bunch of people protesting for something. However, there are various types of social movements, as each one has a different goal.<br />
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So, here are the types of social movements:<br />
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1) Revolutionary – These types are dedicated to revolutionary reforms and gaining some control of the government.<br />
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2) Reformative – Reformative social movements look to make minor changes to society rather than major, radical changes.<br />
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3) Conservative – These movements oppose other social movements that are fighting for change. Conservative movements are dedicated to preserving the existing values and norms of society.<br />
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4) Redemptive – Redemptive social movements are radical movements that are focused on the individual.<br />
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Social movements and protests are great because they can give the voiceless a voice. It reveals issues or problems currently happening in society that need to be fixed. It can also show the government that they need to develop certain social policies to make people’s lives better.<br />
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What are your thoughts on social movements? Share them below in the comments.<br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/social-movements/">https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/social-movements/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-movement/Types-of-social-movements">https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-movement/Types-of-social-movements</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/~epeters5/MAPL5111/5111%20Articles/Tarrow%20--%20Power%20in%20Movement%20(optimized).pdf">http://www.d.umn.edu/~epeters5/MAPL5111/5111%20Articles/Tarrow%20--%20Power%20in%20Movement%20(optimized).pdf</a>Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-5656936976331661522018-04-25T15:54:00.000-06:002018-04-25T16:11:10.843-06:00What is social constructivism?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Social constructivism is a social learning theory that was developed by psychologist Lev Vygotsky. With this concept, Vygotsky wanted to prove that learning didn’t just happen solely via being taught new information. Rather, he believed that cognitive functions are developed from social interactions, and thus learning also occurs when people (specifically young children) interact with others.<br />
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According to Vygotsky’s 1978 study, <i>Interaction between learning and development</i>:<br />
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“Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Definition of Constructivism</b><br />
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Constructivism is a word that means constructing knowledge out of experiences and social interactions. This word is similar to social construction, but the two are different. Constructivism is a learning theory from psychology, while social construction is a sociological term (you can read more about this concept here).<br />
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Some popular constructivist, other than Vygotsky, are John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Jerome Bruner.<br />
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<b>The Main Differences between Constructivism and Social Constructivism</b><br />
<br />
These two learning theories have many similarities, but there are some key differences. So here are some positions that social constructivism promotes, but constructivism does not:<br />
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1) With social constructivism, there is an emphasis on learning with a social group or in a collaborative nature.<br />
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2) Social constructivists believe that all cognitive functions have origins to social interaction.<br />
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3) Social constructivists believe that learning is more than attaining knowledge. It is also a way for learners to be integrated into a knowledge community.<br />
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<b>How Can Social Constructivism Be Used In Education?</b><br />
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Here are two suggestions on how to apply constructivist theories to your classroom:<br />
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1) Always question your student’s answers, regardless of it being correct or incorrect. As well, make sure they understand the answer that they give by having them explain it to you.<br />
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2) Teachers should encourage students to have discussions and exchange their ideas. The students should prove, justify, and communicate their ideas to the classroom (or community) and have the class accept it or reject it. This will create shared knowledge.<br />
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Social constructivism is a view that sees education as a process that happens when humans interact with one another. As well, it argues that learning is best accomplished when students do (or solve) the problems rather than when they observe how the problems are solved.<br />
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Do you think constructivism is a good method of teaching? Or is there a better method? Share your thoughts below in the comments.<br />
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<b>Sources:</b><br />
<a href="http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/social-constructivism/">http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/social-constructivism/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism">http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.theedadvocate.org/social-constructivism-in-education/">http://www.theedadvocate.org/social-constructivism-in-education/</a>Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-91059076019093326882018-04-23T15:58:00.000-06:002019-04-30T00:46:08.068-06:00Noam Chomsky on capitalism, terrorism, and education<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Noam Chomsky, who is often referred to as “the father of modern linguistics,” is a linguist, philosopher, historian, and social critic. Additionally, he is the author of over 100 books, writing about war, society, and politics.<br />
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Here are Chomsky’s 3 thoughts on society:<br />
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<b>1) “It’s ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They’re totalitarian institutions – you take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There’s about as much freedom as under Stalinism.”</b><br />
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Chomsky, in this quote, is criticizing capitalism. He believes that even though Western societies are always preaching about freedom and claiming that all their citizens are free, they are not. They are not free because they are controlled by the institutions that they work for.<br />
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For example, if you work for a big company, you are most likely taking orders from someone who has a higher title than you. You are not doing the work that you want or work that you feel needs to be done. You do the work that is assigned to you by your boss, and Chomsky feels that this is not how a free person lives. He believes that there is as much freedom under this system as there was under Joseph Stalin.<br />
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<b>2) “It’s only terrorism if they do it to us. When we do much worse to them, it’s not terrorism.”</b><br />
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Here, Chomsky is calling out the hypocrisies of Western nations.<br />
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Every time there is a terror attack in America, the Americans always retaliate. And when they do fight back, they always do much worse to the other nation (destroy more land, kill more people, persuade other nations to scorn, etc.). But only one of these attacks is called terrorism, while the other one is referred to self-defense if you will.<br />
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Additionally, when a government of a foreign nation does something terrible to its citizens, they are bad governors. But when a Western nation does terrible things to its citizens, it is referred to as an accident that will be fixed as soon as possible (i.e. water situation in Flint, Michigan).<br />
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<b>3) “The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don’t know how to be submissive, and so on — because they’re dysfunctional to the institutions.”</b><br />
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Chomsky believes that educational and professional training systems were not created for people who have agency (people who can think and act for themselves). He believes that these people do not serve a purpose for these institutions because they will not easily obey, and that is why they are referred to as degenerates or deviants.<br />
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For example, in school, there is always at least one student who always calls out and questions the teacher about something that is taught. Many times (not always, but a lot), the teacher may not have a logical response to the student's comment and will punish him/her for questioning the teacher’s knowledge and authority. This, according to Chomsky, would be an instance of an institution filtering out its citizens.<br />
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These are Chomsky’s thoughts on society. Which quote do you feel is most valuable or needs to be discussed more? Share it below in the comments.
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-42949340489360819492018-04-19T15:39:00.001-06:002019-12-31T16:42:44.857-07:005 books every armchair sociologist needs to read<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Armchair sociologist – this is a term used to describe a sociologist who practices sociology without going into the field and doing research. And because these types of sociologist are often at home in their thinking chairs, analyzing society, they need to read a lot of books so that they can learn and understand the different perspectives of society; they need to be able to put on a different set of lens (racial, economic, gender, etc.) when observing people and their behaviours.<br />
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So here are 5 books that will show every armchair sociologist the experiences of people as they move through society:<br />
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<i>(Just to be totally transparent with you, this review includes affiliate links. What this basically means is that if you decided to use the provided links to buy the product, I will get a small commission from your purchase, at no extra cost to you.)</i><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">1) The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin</span></b><br />
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<b><br /></b> <b>What is this book about?</b> James Baldwin’s <i>The Fire Next Time</i> is a book that that talks about his experiences growing up as a gay, black, Christian man in Harlem prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Split into two essays (or letters), Baldwin delves deep into race and religion, and race relations in America during the 1960s.<br />
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<b>Why you need to read it:</b> This book is important because not only does it talk about racism in America, it also shows you the experiences of a gay man growing up in a religious household.<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2HaTjcO" rel="nofollow">Buy <i>The Fire Next Time</i> from Amazon here</a></b></li>
</ul>
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<b><br /></b> <b><span style="font-size: large;">2) A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0374531269/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1524173139&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=along+way+gone+beach&linkCode=li3&tag=namt-20&linkId=932140aa9b33e1d921da6ec0f9f839cd" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0374531269&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=namt-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=namt-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0374531269" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></center>
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<b><br /></b> <b>What is this book about?</b> <i>A Long Way Gone</i> by Ishmael Beah is about the life of a boy who fought as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. This memoir travels through Beah’s life, starting with the day he fled his village after rebels attacked it and ending with the day he was rescued from war by UNICEF.<br />
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<b>Why you need to read it:</b> This memoir will vividly paint the experiences of child soldiers, from how they are groomed to become fighters to how they adjust to life after war.<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2JcEiDN" rel="nofollow">Buy <i>A Long Way Gone</i> from Amazon here</a></b></li>
</ul>
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Before we continue with the list, I want to share an offer from Audible that’s currently going on. For a limited time, Audible is giving you 2 free audiobooks for trying out their service. So, if you are into audiobooks and want to listen to any of the books on this list for free, I recommend you try out this service. <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Free-Trial-Digital-Membership/dp/B00NB86OYE/?ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1485906643682&_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=pf4&tag=namt-20&linkId=b6762fc27820e40ba2e5c71c792873fb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=namt-20&l=pf4&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></b> for more information and to sign up.<br />
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Now back to the list…<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3) Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Economist-Explores-Hidden-Everything/dp/0060731338/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1524173205&sr=8-1&keywords=freakonomics&linkCode=li3&tag=namt-20&linkId=d0c795a3317f34c0bbb11edbfc29293f" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0060731338&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=namt-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=namt-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0060731338" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></center>
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<b><br /></b> <b>What is this book about?</b> <i>Freakonomics</i> by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner is a book that looks at non-traditional economic issues. Throughout the book, the authors explore issues such as how legalizing abortion reduced the crime rate in the 1990s and how street drug dealers actually don’t make much money while using economic theory to explain each phenomenon.<br />
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<b>Why you need to read it:</b> This book is good for those who want to read about the intersections between economics and sociology because, throughout the book, Levitt and Dubner use economic concepts to explain social issues in their case studies.<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://amzn.to/2qKpk1j" rel="nofollow"><b>Buy <i>Freakonomics</i> from Amazon here</b></a></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">4) Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh</span></b><br />
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<b><br /></b> <b>What is this book about?</b> Sudhir Venkatesh’s <i>Gang Leader for a Day</i> recounts the author’s experiences as a gang member of an urban Chicago neighborhood. But here’s the kicker –he is actually a first-year graduate student doing a sociological research assignment.<br />
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<b>Why you need to read it:</b> This book will show you how people from poor urban neighborhoods live and explain to you why many of them get involved with illegal activities. It will also show you that gang members are the stereotypical gangsters that are portrayed on TV.<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://amzn.to/2F2Gco2" rel="nofollow"><b>Buy <i>Gang Leader for a Day</i> from Amazon here</b></a></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">5) Killers of the Dream by Lillian Smith</span></b><br />
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<b><br /></b> <b>What is this book about?</b> <i>Killers of the Dream</i> by Lillian Smith is a critique of the pre-1960s south. This memoir is a story about a white woman from the south who, as she became wiser, began to recognize the harms (to herself and to society) of conservative southern belief prior to the Civil Rights Movement, and what she did to free herself from that way of thinking.<br />
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<b>Why you need to read it:</b> This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the experience of a white person freeing their mind from their privilege (or as Peter Berger would say, becoming “ecstatic”).<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://amzn.to/2K2qn4q" rel="nofollow"><b>Buy <i>Killers of the Dream</i> from Amazon here</b></a></li>
</ul>
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There you have it. These are the 5 books that I recommend all armchair sociologist (or anyone who wants to understand society better) should read. It will teach you about the experiences of groups and people that you may not know much about. And through this knowledge and understanding, you will be able to open up your mind and free it from your preconceived beliefs.<br />
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Have you read any of these books? If so, share your thoughts about them below. Also, are there any books that should be on this list? Share those in the comments below too.</div>
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Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-79993630217115916442018-04-18T01:14:00.000-06:002018-04-18T01:14:07.564-06:00What is a social construct?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you ever wondered why a post-secondary education is considered to be important? I mean, the material you learn isn’t as practical as actual work experience. Or have you ever wondered why each bill of money has a specific value? I mean, it is just a piece of colored paper. Well, these two things (and many others) have social value because of social construction.<br />
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Social constructionism is this sociological theory that believes all things that have social meaning are created by individuals and by societies. In other words, individuals construct meanings for things that would otherwise be meaningless. And as more people join the group (or society), the meanings of these things become reality because large amounts of people believe it. This is the basic process of a social construct.<br />
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<h4>
Who was the first to start researching social construction?</h4>
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Social construction can be traced back to the works of William Isaac Thomas and Alfred Schutz. However, the term social constructionism was coined by sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann in their book The Social Construction of Reality.<br />
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The Social Construction of Reality by Berger and Luckmann looks at how social concepts, such as manners and work schedule for example, and behaviors are invented by people and groups interacting with each other, and how these two factors become part of our daily beliefs and habits.<br />
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<b>Examples of social constructs:</b><br />
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<ul>
<li>Gender Roles</li>
<li>Social class</li>
<li>Government</li>
<li>Race</li>
<li>Organized religion</li>
<li>Deviant behavior</li>
<li>Currency</li>
<li>Beauty</li>
<li>Family structures</li>
<li>Etiquette </li>
</ul>
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Let’s take a deeper look at one of these examples. I’m going to use currency, specifically cryptocurrency.<br />
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Cryptocurrency is a technology that acts as a digital currency. In reality, it is just a web code –a bunch of 1s and 0s. But since large groups of people have given it a monetary value, it is now considered to be a currency, where it is worth money.<br />
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Had people not socially constructed it to give it meaning or value, Bitcoin, for instance, would still just be a virtual code. <br />
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Let’s do one more. Another example we could use would be celebrities. If you look at the essence of what a celebrity (actors, singers, athletes, etc.) is, they are just people whose jobs are to entertain us. But since people have constructed the definition of a celebrity to be someone who holds a lot of value for society, they are viewed as famous and more important than us non-famous folks.<br />
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Social construction is everywhere in society. It plays a major role in how we behave, what we like, and what we believe. Can you think of some examples of social constructs? Share them below in the comments.<br />
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<b>Sources:</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100515181">http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100515181</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/social-3">https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/social-3</a><br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Construction_of_Reality">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Construction_of_Reality</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.theodysseyonline.com/social-constructs">https://www.theodysseyonline.com/social-constructs</a>Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-74978702801848507892018-04-17T02:30:00.002-06:002021-11-08T00:19:38.443-07:00What is a social problem and how do you define it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You are walking down a street downtown one day and see an entire block, maybe longer, of homeless people asking for money. You wonder to yourself how something like this can even exist. Well, it’s a social problem (or social issue) that hasn’t been solved yet.<br />
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A social problem is a condition or societal behaviour that negatively affects people (i.e. poverty and homelessness) and that needs to be addressed and repaired. However, there are two requirements that need to be met before a condition is constituted as a social problem.<br />
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The first requirement, which is called the <i>objective component</i>, is that the condition must affect large amounts of people in a damaging way. The second requirement, which is called the <i>subjective component</i>, is that the condition needs to have a perception that it has to be addressed.<br />
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For example, if society has a situation where too many kids have cavities because they eat too much candy, but society doesn’t view this as a problem that needs to be addressed, then this is not a social problem, even though it is affecting large amounts of people negatively.<br />
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The second requirement is based on the <i>social constructionist’s view</i>. This perspective of society sees social problems as a process, not a condition. It centers on the idea that people socially construct social problems; social issues are created by people.<br />
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Now that you know the definition, here are some examples of social problems:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Poverty</li>
<li>Gun violence</li>
<li>Systemic racial discrimination</li>
<li>Economic disparities</li>
<li>Workplace sexual abuse</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>How do the different sociological perspectives view social problems?</b></h3></div>
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(If you don’t remember what the sociological perspectives are, <a href="http://www.everythingsociology.com/2013/07/the-four-paradigms-of-sociology.html" target="_blank">click here</a> to read my post on it.)<br />
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<b>Functionalism</b><br />
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Functionalists will view social problems as a societal function. This school of thought will see social issues as serving a purpose for society, and that it can lead to something positive or create a change that society needs.<br />
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For example, functionalist would view police brutality, a current social problem, as a step that will create positive change. This problem, for instance, can lead to the government creating policies that make it mandatory for all police officers to get more education about diversity and learn how to police in unfamiliar communities, thus making policing better.<br />
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<b>Conflict Theory</b><br />
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Conflict theorists view all inequalities in society as a conflict between the powerful and the oppressed. With that in mind, they believe that social problems are caused by the powerful taking advantage of the weak or the rich exploiting the poor.<br />
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Let’s take poverty, for example. This is a social problem. Conflict theorists would view poverty as a phenomenon that exists because of the actions that were taken by the powerful, such as not paying their workers a living wage, or hiding their money in offshore accounts and not paying taxes, which affects the funding of social programs.<br />
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<b>Symbolic Interaction</b><br />
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Symbolic interactionists would view social problems as issues that are created via people interacting and communicating with one another and spreading awareness of a problem.<br />
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For example, let’s use the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment. Although sexual harassment has always been an issue since the dawn of humankind, sexual harassment in Hollywood was never considered a social problem until the #MeToo movement spread and made people talk about this issue. Symbolic interactionists would believe that if the #MeToo movement didn’t spread like it did, this issue would never have taken off and become a social problem, despite men and women being sexually harassed on a regular basis.<br />
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Different schools of thought view social problems and how they are created differently. But all the perspectives believe that social issues do harm masses of people, despite one school’s belief that there’s a possibility that it can lead to positive change.<br />
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Which sociological perspective do you align with when it comes to social problems and why? Share your thoughts below.<div><br /></div><div><i><b>P.S. Do you want to learn more about sociology? Check out my book, SOCI 001: The Armchair Sociologist’s Guide to Sociology, on Amazon. It's a clear and concise guide with descriptive examples to help you better understand this social science. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XCJ65YT" target="_blank">Click here</a> to learn more about it.</b></i><br />
<b><br />Sources:</b><br />
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<a href="http://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/1-1-what-is-a-social-problem/" target="_blank">http://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/1-1-what-is-a-social-problem/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0052.xml" target="_blank">http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0052.xml</a>
</div>Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-79984942400078453032018-04-16T01:09:00.001-06:002018-04-16T22:49:04.773-06:00Martin Luther King, Jr. on capitalism, policies, and racism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and a Civil Rights activist. He was well-known across the world for his activism for equal rights for African-Americans and was the most visible spokesperson for the Civil Rights Movement.<br />
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Here are Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 3 thoughts on society:<br />
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<b>1) “Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”</b><br />
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This Martin Luther King, Jr. quote is pretty self-explanatory. With a capitalistic economic system, there will never be equally wealthy people because there will always be two groups --the rich (a small few who hold the majority of the riches) and the poor (the majority of the nation).<br />
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King believes that this inequality exists because there is no equal distribution of wealth in a capitalistic society. He says that to change this, the people will have to fight; they will have to call out their government and protest for more economic equality.<br />
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An example of what King is trying to illustrate with this quote would be the economic inequality in today’s society. Did you know that the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/14/worlds-richest-wealth-credit-suisse">richest one percent in the world own half of the world’s wealth</a>? They do and this is a perfect example of what King is talking about.<br />
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<b>2) “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”</b><br />
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In this quote, King is saying that although there are no laws or policies that can make someone like or not prejudge a minority, laws that protect minorities are still important because it prevents bigots from physically harming (or killing) them.<br />
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There are many laws or potential policies that can be used as an example of this quote. For instance, policies that would prevent the police from killing or physically beating African-Americans would be one.<br />
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However, this quote doesn’t just apply to the African-American community. It can also be applied to the LGBT community or women.</div>
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<b>3) “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”</b><br />
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This is a quote that almost every activist has said in one way or another, but is an important idea, but so many people don’t use it. King says that people hate and fear one another because we don’t interact with each other. He says that to eliminate hate and fear, all we have to do is talk –listen to each other’s stories and try to understand one another.<br />
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Finding an example for this quote is a little tricky. However, just think back to a time when you had to something scary. At first, it’s probably pretty damn scary. But after a while, once you have experienced it and understood it, the activity probably wasn’t that scary anymore.<br />
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This is similar to talking to someone you fear. At first, all of your prejudgments about that person or type of person will flow rampantly throughout your mind. But once the conversation starts settling in, and you begin to understand that person more and more, he/she will just be like any other person that you have talked before. You may even have a lot of similar interests like that person!<br />
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So just communicate with each other.<br />
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Well, there you have it. These are King’s 3 thoughts on society. Which quote was your favorite or which one do you think society needs to use more? Share them in the comments.Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-4650913543728279952018-04-10T01:08:00.000-06:002020-01-23T00:36:56.754-07:00Sociology majors, here’s what you can do with your degree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Being a sociology major, you probably hear people asking you what you’re going to do with your sociology degree a lot. I did too, so I get how it feels. So here are some encouraging words and a list of potential careers.</i><br />
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When I was studying sociology in university, I was often asked what I can do with my degree after I graduated. I wasn’t 100 percent sure at first. I knew I wanted to major in sociology because it was so interesting to me, but didn’t know what I wanted to work as or what type of career I wanted after I graduated from university (well, I had an idea, but wasn’t sure if I could do it).<br />
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After being asked this question multiple times by friends and family, I decided to do some research into the potential careers that I could have. Lucky for me, there is a thing called Google, and I was able to find a bunch of lists of potential careers for sociology majors very quickly. I picked one site and looked through it, and I saw myself having a career in ALL OF THE POTENTIAL JOBS!<br />
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Over the span of about a year, I imagined myself doing all sorts of jobs. I considered going into law and becoming a legal advisor because I wanted to help people who couldn’t afford lawyers. I considered going into marketing because it seemed fun and I could make a lot of money. I considered being a sociology professor because I like to teach. However, I got lazy and didn’t want to go to grad school, so I considered becoming a high school social studies teacher because, again, I get to teach. I considered becoming a journalist because I’m a news junkie and love to write. I had so many interests and wanted to do so many things.<br />
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The thing with a sociology degree (and the thing that allowed me to get crazy over potential careers) is that you can do so many things because you learn so many skills. You learn how to think critically, write, conduct research, analyze stats, and observe society, to name a few.<br />
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So whatever it is that you choose to do, you can probably do it, as long as you know how to do it and have some work experience in that area (obviously you can’t do specialize jobs such as accounting or engineering).<br />
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But if you have no clue as to what you want to do for a job or become professionally after graduation, check out this list of potential careers. Maybe you will find something that is interesting or something you would consider doing:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Social Researcher</li>
<li>Market Research Analyst</li>
<li>Journalist</li>
<li>Human Services Worker</li>
<li>Police Officer</li>
<li>Demographer</li>
<li>Advertising Account Executive</li>
<li>Early Childhood Development</li>
<li>Correctional Officer (Guard, Parole Officer, Probationary Officer)</li>
<li>Counselor</li>
<li>Therapist</li>
<li>Policy Researcher</li>
<li>Teacher</li>
<li>Professor</li>
<li>Special Needs</li>
<li>Social Worker</li>
<li>Caregiver</li>
<li>Community Organizer</li>
<li>Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Worker</li>
<li>Industrial Relations Officer</li>
<li>English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher</li>
<li>Humanitarian Aid Worker</li>
</ul>
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<i>Did this list spark any ideas?</i><br />
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What do you plan on becoming after you get your sociology degree? Or if you already have it, what is your career? I own a tutoring business and I also blog. But let me know what you do/plan to do in the comments.Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-45196803366110000392018-04-02T02:37:00.000-06:002018-04-16T22:50:32.789-06:00Angela Davis on racism, prison, and the women’s suffrage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Angela Davis is a political activist, social commentator, and educator. During the 1960s, she was an important voice who advocated for the oppressed and the Civil Rights Movement.<br />
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Here are Davis’s three thoughts on society:<br />
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1) “In many ways you can say that the prison serves as an institution that consolidates the state’s inability and refusal to address the most pressing social problems of this era.”</h3>
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With this quote, Angela Davis is saying that there is more to America’s prison complex than to just merely imprison criminals. Prisons also act, and in ways strengthen, society’s refusal to get to the root causes of social problems in America.<br />
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Have you noticed how the state would rather throw people into jail than trying to find ways, such as providing better education, to improve their community? This is because imprisoning people is much quicker and easier to do than addressing the root causes of the country’s social problems.<br />
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2) “'Woman' was the test, but not every woman seemed to qualify. Black women, of course, were virtually invisible within the protracted campaign for woman suffrage. As for white working-class women, the suffrage leaders were probably impressed at first by the organizing efforts and militancy of their working-class sisters. But as it turned out, the working women themselves did not enthusiastically embrace the cause of woman suffrage.”</h3>
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Although the woman’s suffrage was meant to give women more equality in society, it only did so for certain ‘races’. Davis says that the white women’s voice was heard during the campaigns, while black women’s voices were unnoticed. The problems white women had to face were talked about extensively, while the problems of black women were not.<br />
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Racism within feminism is still a common thing today. You may not have noticed this, but many women’s issues that are discussed are from the points of view of white women. The problems of black women are not discussed as much as their counterparts by mainstream media. Additionally, society still views white women as higher up on the hierarchal ladder than women of color.<br />
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3) “I feel that if we don't take seriously the ways in which racism is embedded in structures of institutions, if we assume that there must be an identifiable racist who is the perpetrator, then we won't ever succeed in eradicating racism.”</h3>
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This is one of Davis’ most important quotes, in my opinion. With this, she is saying that racism is a much larger entity than that one racist guy in your community. Racism is institutional, meaning that there is racism in your social institutions. There is racism in the policies that governments pass, there is racism in the law, and there is racism in the educational material that your teachers teach.<br />
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And according to Davis, the sooner we recognize this, the sooner there will social justice and equality, and the sooner we can eliminate racism.<br />
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These are Davis’ three thoughts on society. Which one do you think is still a major problem in society today and why? Leave your comment below.Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-53294895565775409902018-03-27T04:00:00.000-06:002018-04-16T22:52:03.192-06:00Malcolm X on race, society, and the media<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister who fought for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. He often preached for race pride and social justice and encouraged visible minorities to fight against racism and oppression.<br />
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Here are Malcolm X’s three thoughts on society and my interpretations of them:<br />
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<b>1) “We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.”</b><br />
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With this quote, Malcolm X is encouraging people, regardless of race and ethnicity, to be more understanding of others because it will lead to unity. Unity, then, will lead to people getting along, which will lead to a better society.<br />
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But all this can only happen once we start to understand one another; once we have more empathy and start walking in other’s shoes.<br />
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<b>2) “The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”</b><br />
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Malcolm X wants you to not blindly believe anything. The media can (and often does) lie and create false narratives about certain groups of people in society. So, do not believe the media without doing your own research first.<br />
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Don’t just trust one news source or one journalist because everyone has biases. Additionally, media corporations have agendas; not all of them exist to inform the public about what is going on around them and around the world. Always look at more than one source and always think about the story/event critically.<br />
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Also, don’t believe the narratives told in movies or shows. I know that these are fictional and it is common sense not to believe them, but some people do. Like news sources, movie/show producers have agendas and can have bias too. So, just be critical and think before accepting any worldview.<br />
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<b>3) “If you stick a knife nine inches into my back and pull it out three inches, that is not progress. Even if you pull it all the way out, that is not progress. Progress is healing the wound, and America hasn't even begun to pull out the knife.”</b><br />
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In this quote, Malcolm X is saying that racism and discrimination still exist in America (and in nations where colonization occurred). Just because the government has created some policies to help the black community, for instance, it is not enough to heal them from the decades of injustices that their people have gone through. They have to be viewed as equals by society, and they have to be treated as such.<br />
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Until this happens… until there is no longer systemic discrimination against minorities, the wound has not been healed; the knife was just pulled out a little bit.<br />
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Which Malcolm X quote resonated with you the most? Share it below. Also, which of his quotes do you think needs to be applied to society more to improve it (or must all three be applied)?Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-47273769325101077812018-03-26T04:00:00.000-06:002019-10-07T23:56:25.664-06:00Book Review: Oxford Dictionary of Sociology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Buy the 'Oxford Dictionary of Sociology' from Amazon Here: <a href="https://amzn.to/2Ixl5z7" rel="nofollow">https://amzn.to/2Ixl5z7</a></h3>
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<i>If you are a sociology major or just someone who wants to learn about society, this dictionary is a must-have!</i><br />
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(Just to be totally transparent with you, this review includes affiliate links. What this basically means is that if you decided to use the provided links to buy the product, I will get a small kickback from your purchase, at no extra cost to you.)<br />
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When I was in university, there were many times when I didn’t understand a concept that a professor taught or a sociological theory that I read in a text. So one day, I decided to ask one of my professors for extra help or for extra resources to help me understand the content I was learning better. He suggested that I get a sociological dictionary, especially if I wanted to continue my studies and get a post-graduate degree.<br />
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At first, I didn’t want to get one because I would have to carry another book around in my backpack. But I thought about it and decided to get one because, ya know, I wanted good grades and wanted to understand my professor. So I started my search in the bookstore, but it was too expensive there, so I decided to look elsewhere. I went online and searched for it, and luckily for me, I found the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology on Amazon (and for a good price too!).<br />
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This dictionary is awesome and I still refer to it today when I am writing blog posts. It is thick and filled with easy-to-understand information. Although this is considered a dictionary, I feel like it is more of an encyclopedia (or mini-textbook) because not only is it packed with concepts and theories, it is also filled with historical facts and biographies of sociologists. Additionally, the newer versions have analyses of current social issues.<br />
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The only bad thing about it is that it is short and bulky. But I considered it a good trade-off since it helped understand the content from my sociology classes better.<br />
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So, if you are in need of a sociological dictionary or are considering getting one, you <a href="https://amzn.to/2Ixl5z7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>click here</b></a> to buy the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology from Amazon.Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-37012901433555179962018-03-20T01:38:00.000-06:002018-04-16T22:54:16.198-06:00James Baldwin’s 3 thoughts on society<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGEwGlOb7wvkc8OQ1jtef7C8tanM3w1jw2DGRcXDCPTVGlWKVY19fgwZgyqLp-O_x3extamJmTOUowelkOBYRh5rbdZFrlb-uqQsn9T915NKQWdgqui78tw7AiOOFaOqUVzdKjgD8UBs/s1600/James+Baldwin%25E2%2580%2599s+3+thoughts+on+society.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGEwGlOb7wvkc8OQ1jtef7C8tanM3w1jw2DGRcXDCPTVGlWKVY19fgwZgyqLp-O_x3extamJmTOUowelkOBYRh5rbdZFrlb-uqQsn9T915NKQWdgqui78tw7AiOOFaOqUVzdKjgD8UBs/s640/James+Baldwin%25E2%2580%2599s+3+thoughts+on+society.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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James Baldwin, born in 1924, was an author and social critic. He was a gay black man living during a time when racism and homophobia were still very strong. He had many thoughts and criticisms about this time. Here are three of them:<br />
<b><br /></b> <b>1) “People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.”</b><br />
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“What goes around, comes back around,” is pretty much what Baldwin is trying to say here. If you continuously treat people horribly and as less than equals, one day, the bullied will rally together and fight back. And sometimes, they’ll do more than protest –they may try to overthrow you to take back their power.<br />
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The oppressed are not going to just sit still in a corner, and let the oppressor beat and drag them down forever. They will eventually find the strength to stand up and fight back.<br />
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<b>2) “I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”</b><br />
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Have you ever noticed how, when someone does something wrong or bad, but doesn’t realize it until another person points out that what they did was wrong, and then they feel guilty? This is kind of what Baldwin is trying to say.<br />
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With this thought, Baldwin is saying that some people, either consciously or subconsciously, remain ignorant on purpose because if they open their minds and be empathetic, they will feel crappy about themselves for being bigoted. So to shield themselves from this pain, they continue to be stubborn and close-minded; they continue to hate people and things that don’t warrant hate rather than trying to understand those that they hate.<br />
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<b><br /></b> <b>3) “You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important. Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important.”</b><br />
<b><br /></b> A lot of the time, young and naïve people will think that society is out to only get them, or that bad things only happen to them. And this sucks for that person because he/she doesn’t have a group to support him/her. But once they find out that this hate or oppression has happened to others, and is still happening, they feel liberated. And the reason why they feel this way is because, first, they are now not alone. Second, they now can connect and learn from the others who have also been oppressed.<br />
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This is why Baldwin believes that art, such as stories, are so important to society. Stories paint images of life and the struggles that come with it and shows how people overcome difficulties. These stories can act as guides for the young and naïve who think that they are alone in this world.<br />
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Which quote resonated with you most? Share it in the comments below.</div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-10732129898172850802017-02-02T15:07:00.000-07:002018-04-05T01:16:36.530-06:00Sociology Tool: History of Black History Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCckG5TnwzGA9EfbF1nWNUZlJC8bzuexqNl_9okIdkLTajYbc0zNLhmulOgx_dgRRF8DsCt1WcuRrRyPy3u06JCeGjfiQMN2Natt4ax41pJ9pntn-v38uRD0lmDKD-qq7dV2dthOaGJg/s1600/carter-woodson-9536515-1-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCckG5TnwzGA9EfbF1nWNUZlJC8bzuexqNl_9okIdkLTajYbc0zNLhmulOgx_dgRRF8DsCt1WcuRrRyPy3u06JCeGjfiQMN2Natt4ax41pJ9pntn-v38uRD0lmDKD-qq7dV2dthOaGJg/s320/carter-woodson-9536515-1-402.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In 1915, Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and Minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). In 1926, this organization, which studied and promoted achievements by black Americans and people of African descent, started a campaign called the Negro History week that encouraged schools and communities in the U.S. to learn about and celebrate Black culture and history for one week.<br />
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It wasn’t until the late 1960’s when people (mainly college students) started to extend the event to one month. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month and urged the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”<br />
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Source:<br />
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<a href="http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month" target="_blank">http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month</a>Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-11636115861094729212017-01-27T14:39:00.000-07:002018-04-05T01:16:15.837-06:00Sociology Tool: Martin Luther King Jr. on capitalism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Jcy3N0rjlR7YyvBGCVX5a08n8YAHRLrRNVo5pHunfv5uC4OmXy4jIo7KKzk7ieXCkrY4iC22NF7ZEl2jOeURhyopLPNvNv371nvV2cW3G00Gdi8krk2zeN_1FKXw1IPXmeoWnU0spys/s1600/1-19-Martin-Luther-King-ftr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Jcy3N0rjlR7YyvBGCVX5a08n8YAHRLrRNVo5pHunfv5uC4OmXy4jIo7KKzk7ieXCkrY4iC22NF7ZEl2jOeURhyopLPNvNv371nvV2cW3G00Gdi8krk2zeN_1FKXw1IPXmeoWnU0spys/s640/1-19-Martin-Luther-King-ftr.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you didn’t know, Martin Luther King Jr. was a radical who often criticized America and its policies. He wasn’t always an obedient person who only talked about race relations and equality.<br />
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Here is an example. In 1967, <a href="http://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/King-quotes-2-page.pdf">King spoke to the staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference</a> (SCLC) about how they must work harder to “revolutionize” society, as well as for fair distribution of political and economic power:<br />
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“We have more from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights,, an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society. We have been in a reform movement… But after Selma and the voting rights bill, we moved into a new era, which must be the era of revolution. We must recognize that we can’t solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power… this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together… you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others… the whole structure of American life must be changed. America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order.”</blockquote>
Here’s more on King’s thoughts on capitalism (from The Young Turks):<br />
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Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-36263641958189394892017-01-20T14:15:00.000-07:002018-04-05T01:15:23.257-06:00Sociology Tool: Africville<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmL94Q-9axr7fe30No0_pciToCIADFDL9sso8WaSNMEhT9PSN_HWq2U73QcSDwy8H2rRs8PW1R1coudbTw90fdMeOVF4eX-YvxD7dgDfbjK9GfHCpLFyWEa7DSPc8nHEKAJilRytiNV8k/s1600/df2f092b-12b0-4403-b302-7cddcf4ec7d9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmL94Q-9axr7fe30No0_pciToCIADFDL9sso8WaSNMEhT9PSN_HWq2U73QcSDwy8H2rRs8PW1R1coudbTw90fdMeOVF4eX-YvxD7dgDfbjK9GfHCpLFyWEa7DSPc8nHEKAJilRytiNV8k/s640/df2f092b-12b0-4403-b302-7cddcf4ec7d9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">(Africville, Halifax in 1965 via <a href="http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/anne-th%C3%A9riault/2015/04/halifaxs-race-problem-pretending-it-doesnt-have-race-problem" target="_blank">Rabble.ca</a>)</td></tr>
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<b>Africville</b> was a small community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where the population was entirely Black. In the first half of the 19th century, this small community was treated unfairly by the government. Though many of the residents worked (ran fishing businesses, farms, and small stores) and paid taxes, they didn’t get the same benefits and services as other working Nova Scotians.<br />
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Some of the services they didn’t receive were paved roads, running water or sewers, public transportation, garbage collection, and adequate police protection. Rather, the City of Halifax placed unwanted services in the community. Some the services were a railway extension (1854), the Rockhead Prison (1854), and the Infectious Diseases Hospital (the 1870s), to name a few. Many Africville residents back then believed that the government allowed for this unfair treatment because they were anti-Black.</div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-63897204687227435362017-01-02T14:30:00.000-07:002018-04-05T01:14:38.091-06:00Confusing Social Concepts: Feminism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipopUs7ZaCNPkCEgEOEXGBhepIIINMkfnL_mJNQAz00sWh44tj165UTsFmlPL1MGFaAQEgABWVbO6RTkVliPB8wyDQALdfPYhNjEpqF-p0JVsReFHG4r3XzDe1uqeSrku9R4P-lVVdzPY/s1600/feminism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipopUs7ZaCNPkCEgEOEXGBhepIIINMkfnL_mJNQAz00sWh44tj165UTsFmlPL1MGFaAQEgABWVbO6RTkVliPB8wyDQALdfPYhNjEpqF-p0JVsReFHG4r3XzDe1uqeSrku9R4P-lVVdzPY/s400/feminism.jpg" width="361" /></a></div>
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(<i>I originally posted this article on my other blog, <a href="https://bamboopost.net/2016/09/07/confusing-social-concepts-white-privilege/">The Bamboo Post</a>, but I thought I should post it here too because it is a sociological topic.</i>)<br />
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Admit or not, feminists have a bad rep. They tend to be seen as crazy women who want to kill masculinity and will scream and bark false facts at all those who oppose them or deny their equal rights. But this is simply not true. Not all feminists are loud, scary, and evil, and I’m willing to bet that there are more nice feminists than there are mean ones.<br />
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However, this post isn’t about the visuals of feminists. Rather, it is about what feminism is and what most feminists fight for because it gets misconstrued quite a bit by the media.<br />
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So let’s travel back into history and look at the 3 waves of feminism.<br />
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<b>First Wave (1830’s-early 1900’s):</b><br />
In this wave, feminists dealt with issues concerning property rights and the right for women to vote in political elections (women’s suffrage).<br />
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<b>Second Wave (1960’s-1980’s):</b><br />
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In this wave, feminists broadened the debate and expanded their fight to deal with issues in the workplace, sexuality, family, and reproductive rights, and also raised concerns about domestic violence and marital rape.<br />
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<b>Third Wave (1990’s-today):</b><br />
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In the earlier part of this wave, feminists’ main concerns were about integrating the issues of minority and LGBT women to their fight.<br />
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However, nowadays, though there are some feminists who are still fighting for the integration of racial issues into feminist theory, the main issues that they deal with are equal pay, domestic labour, media representation, violence against women, victim blaming (rape culture), and rights to control their own body (abortion, contraception).<br />
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Additionally, there are issues that some feminists fight for, but others will fight against. An example of this would be women in pornography. Some feel that it is up to the individual to make their own choices (as long as it doesn’t harm others) and that female porn stars should not be shamed for their career choice. Others, however, feel that women shouldn’t go into porn because it exploits women and creates a false image of them, where they are viewed only as sexual things.<br />
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Another issue that feminists often disagree on is the right for women to dress as they please. Some say women should be able to dress however they want (show as much skin as they want/show as little skin as they want). However, there are some feminists who believe that women should show as little skin as possible because if they show too much, they’ll be viewed as sexual objects (or sluts) rather than, for a lack of a better word, a “normal” person.<br />
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So, that is what feminism is all about –their main goal is pretty much just equality. How do you feel about feminism? Share your thoughts below in the comments.<br />
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<b>Here are the sources and some additional readings if you’re interested:</b><br />
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First Wave Feminism (via wiki): <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-wave_feminism">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-wave_feminism</a><br />
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Second Wave Feminism (via wiki): <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism</a><br />
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Third Wave Feminism (via wiki): <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-wave_feminism">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-wave_feminism</a><br />
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A Brief History: The Three Waves of Feminism: <a href="https://www.progressivewomensleadership.com/a-brief-history-the-three-waves-of-feminism/">https://www.progressivewomensleadership.com/a-brief-history-the-three-waves-of-feminism/</a><br />
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The Five Main Issues Facing Modern Feminism: <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/v-spot/2013/05/five-main-issues-facing-modern-feminism">http://www.newstatesman.com/v-spot/2013/05/five-main-issues-facing-modern-feminism</a>Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-38281230999743744762016-12-05T15:23:00.000-07:002018-04-05T01:13:03.068-06:00Confusing Social Concepts: White Privilege<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXC8P9H1xwq9sUAejr3ZfX6qVabLonx1r-N-wVCtr0L6fd8cIyM6EYh-v_ZZronIPwEMu8-OclQh2XTZ0B_Rukc1UHdOuczWfh33bYqOPqhABmBNEDMK4VA6V7FEAOgmbM-8TBRHhzISk/s1600/bumiputera-and-racism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXC8P9H1xwq9sUAejr3ZfX6qVabLonx1r-N-wVCtr0L6fd8cIyM6EYh-v_ZZronIPwEMu8-OclQh2XTZ0B_Rukc1UHdOuczWfh33bYqOPqhABmBNEDMK4VA6V7FEAOgmbM-8TBRHhzISk/s640/bumiputera-and-racism.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i><i>(I originally posted this article on my other blog, <a href="https://bamboopost.net/2016/09/07/confusing-social-concepts-white-privilege/" target="_blank">The Bamboo Post</a>, but I thought I should post it here too because it is a sociological topic.)</i><br />
<i><br /></i> Society is such a complex thing. There are so many factors that go into social issues, and many times these factors are not discussed. Journalists and social commentators tend to throw terms (concepts) around to try to explain issues, but often times, viewers don’t know what the terms mean. As well, some of these same people don’t explore the terms deeply, while some misconstrue the terms so that it will fit their agenda.<br />
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So for today, I am going to discuss <b>White Privilege</b>, a term that (it would seem) not many people understand, and is misconstrued a lot.<br />
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<b>First off, what is White Privilege?</b><br />
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The <a href="https://academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/whiteness05.htm">University of Dayton website</a> defines White Privilege as:<br />
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“A right, advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by white persons beyond the common advantage of all others; an exemption in many particular cases from certain burdens or liabilities.”<br />
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Many (mainly conservatives) argue against White Privilege by saying:<br />
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“Oh, white privilege is not real because I’ve had to struggle and work hard to get to where I am today.”<br />
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or<br />
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“Racism doesn’t exist in North America anymore.”<br />
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or<br />
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‘I never owned slaves or colonized anyone, so I don’t benefit from White Privilege.”<br />
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(And there are so many other things that they say.)<br />
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But the thing is, racism is still very much alive, and even if you (or family) didn’t own slaves, you still benefit from it just for being white because of the ‘race’ hierarchy that colonization created. And as for the first argument, yeah, you probably did work very hard to get to where you are. But white privilege is much bigger than one’s financial success.<br />
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<b>Here are some examples of things that non-whites experience:</b><br />
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- Non-white races are still prejudged and discriminated against based on their skin color.<br />
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- Schools, places of work, and law enforcement still use racial stereotypes to prejudge non-white people.<br />
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- People of color are underrepresented in the media. And sometimes, ethnic roles are given to white actors.<br />
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- Non-whites have certain fears that whites have never (or rarely) feel. An example is fearing that police or security will give us a hard time or possibly physically harming us just because of our skin color.<br />
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- White people are never viewed as terrorists.<br />
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- Violent white criminals get handcuffed and arrested by police, while violent black criminals get beat, shot, and killed by police.<br />
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- Schools teach white history year round, while non-white history gets taught during special months.<br />
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And all of this occurs because of systemic racism, which is defined by the <a href="http://www.ucalgary.ca/cared/formsofracism">University of Calgary website</a> as: “the policies and practices entrenched in established institutions, which result in the exclusion or promotion of designated groups.”<br />
<br />
White privilege is real, and the quicker you realize it is, the quicker you’ll be able to help end it.<br />
<br />
<b>If you want to learn more about this, check out the following articles/blog posts:</b><br />
<br />
“Explaining White Privilege To A Broke White Person…” (<a href="http://occupywallstreet.net/story/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person">http://occupywallstreet.net/story/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person</a>)<br />
<br />
“What Exactly Is White Privilege? Here Are 7 Examples” (<a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/what-exactly-is-white-privilege-here-are-7-examples.html">http://www.care2.com/causes/what-exactly-is-white-privilege-here-are-7-examples.html</a>)<br />
<br />
“Tim Wise on Whiteness and the Historical Trick of Racial Privilege” (<a href="http://www.timwise.org/2014/12/tim-wise-on-whiteness-and-the-historical-trick-of-racial-privilege/">http://www.timwise.org/2014/12/tim-wise-on-whiteness-and-the-historical-trick-of-racial-privilege/</a>)Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-7590674078011384182015-04-26T01:14:00.000-06:002018-04-05T01:11:23.735-06:00Sociology of Power: What is Power?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUTjRimzHLE938hdr2TJrtJTBDzDlO7FeftPwDzmytAJ8IFhsSHEZ3kVsqs9ksceauzSI4uDZDGNMHtruAfcgxIRHHkMEG5qcatxUmZkpJlKBTPQYKLi3oktEjrA4ctPRiFedyhckZw0/s1600/power-table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUTjRimzHLE938hdr2TJrtJTBDzDlO7FeftPwDzmytAJ8IFhsSHEZ3kVsqs9ksceauzSI4uDZDGNMHtruAfcgxIRHHkMEG5qcatxUmZkpJlKBTPQYKLi3oktEjrA4ctPRiFedyhckZw0/s640/power-table.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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What is power?</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Being at the heart of social stratification, many people view power as the ability to influence or control another person's behavior.<br />
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According to Max Weber, power is a person’s ability to control other people’s thoughts and behaviors, ability to regulate the distribution of resources, and ability to influence important social events. But this ability can be taken away, according to Weber. He says that a person’s power can be lost in the ongoing conflict between the haves and the have-nots.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Karl Marx, however, views power differently. He sees it as a social group issue rather than an individual issue. In Marx’s eyes, the hierarchy of power is related to economic classes.<br />
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An example would be the heads of a manufacturing company holding more power than its workers, or in other terms, the bourgeoisie having more control in society than the proletariat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But there is more than one form of power, as John French and Bertram Raven divided the phenomenon into five distinct groups. The chart above describes them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How do you feel about power in society? Share your thoughts below. <o:p></o:p></div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-26249441411458677342014-09-24T15:10:00.000-06:002019-11-04T15:25:18.324-07:00Economic Sociology: Emile Durkheim’s Division of Labor in Society<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_UCIzWMtOn8JWiNXBPTDKARVhIF4ZN5iBcel7D81EXCk7ufSiFw85_sAv9YcxrjIQ-b7QrakMVr-llxW8_MUWCphwLUCXMoGB7dzzU99wNQ7q0yVtDE6sWyvFH4W7BlHOBaXaPdhBK0/s1600/emile_durkheim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_UCIzWMtOn8JWiNXBPTDKARVhIF4ZN5iBcel7D81EXCk7ufSiFw85_sAv9YcxrjIQ-b7QrakMVr-llxW8_MUWCphwLUCXMoGB7dzzU99wNQ7q0yVtDE6sWyvFH4W7BlHOBaXaPdhBK0/s640/emile_durkheim.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Emile Durkheim)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In Emile Durkheim’s book, <i>The Division of Labor in Society</i>, he describes the differences between a society where people have similar tasks (mechanical solidarity) and a society where people have different, individual tasks (organic solidarity).</div>
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He says that in modern times, society is not gelled together by people’s similarities in tasks and beliefs. Rather, social solidarity is kept together by people’s individualism and specialties because it forces them to rely on one another, as citizens of modern society perform a narrow range of tasks.<br />
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However, many people have argued that the division of labor would corrode solidarity, but Durkheim contends that “the economic services that it can render are insignificant compared with the moral effect that it produces and its true function is to create between two or more people a feeling of solidarity.” (<i>The Division of Labor in Society</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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This being his first major work, <i>The Division of Labor in Society </i>was criticized for being incomplete and not addressing all of the important issues in this topic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Definitions:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Two types of social solidarity:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Mechanical Solidarity</b> – People in this type of society are similar to each other and carry out similar daily tasks and have similar responsibilities. As well, they have similar life situations and experiences. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This society’s collective consciousness covers the entire society and it is very intense, extremely rigid, and very religious.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Organic Solidarity</b> – People in this type of society perform specific, individual tasks that develop different sets of experiences and situations for every individual.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
RELATED: <a href="http://www.everythingsociology.com/p/essential-sociology-student-tools.html" target="_blank">Sociologist's Tools</a></h3>
</div>
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The collective consciousness only affects certain groups of people and is not very intense, not very rigid, and the content is based on individual morals.<o:p></o:p></div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-91382161171661256602014-09-16T18:55:00.001-06:002018-04-16T13:39:49.183-06:00Economic Sociology: Marx’s Materialist Conception of History<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4p5zZOul2UmTRTdljvLedoD_QkzKB7BIsvjr4uv2N09xhjB27NmG7cLscwXaUVG-f0hb6uoxhx9JAOIDMkM8HvGSQuqu7RjicOrZZmp55GOBVroVu7ANSuoG01_cIR_BqwC5vVSq6m3A/s1600/Karl-Marx-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4p5zZOul2UmTRTdljvLedoD_QkzKB7BIsvjr4uv2N09xhjB27NmG7cLscwXaUVG-f0hb6uoxhx9JAOIDMkM8HvGSQuqu7RjicOrZZmp55GOBVroVu7ANSuoG01_cIR_BqwC5vVSq6m3A/s640/Karl-Marx-007.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Karl Marx)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Karl Marx, as you all should know, was a sociologist who
often criticized capitalism for what it will do to society in the future. He
was able to “foresee” this because he believed that history would follow a predictable
course. This belief was based on his materialist conception of history, or historical
materialism, a methodological approach that he used to study society, economy,
and history.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>The general premise of historical materialism is that how
people provide for their material needs will condition their dealings with
other people, with social institutions, and with dominant ideas.<br />
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Marx describes this theory in his 1859 book <i>A Contribution to the Critique of Political
Economy</i>:</div>
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“In the social production which men carry on they enter into
definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will. These
relations of production correspond to a definite stage of development of their
material forces of production. The totality of these relations of production
constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which
arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite
forms of social consciousness. The mode of production of material life
conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It
is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their
social existence that determines their consciousness. At a certain stage of
development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with
the existing relations of production or – this merely expresses the same thing
in legal terms – with the property relations within the framework of which they
have operated hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces
these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social
revolution. The changes in the economic foundation lead sooner or later to the
transformation of the whole immense superstructure.”</blockquote>
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Though this theory was criticized for being unfalsifiable, it
is an interesting take on how society and the economy are organized.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Definitions</b>:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Superstructure – Noneconomic relations</li>
<li>Base – Economic relations</li>
<li>Forces of Production – Tools used to satisfy human needs (machinery,
factories, etc.)</li>
<li>Relations of Production – Associations people have with each
other in terms of satisfying needs.</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-28407788621903570182014-09-09T15:46:00.000-06:002018-11-14T23:53:38.538-07:00Economic Sociology: Max Weber and ‘The Protestant Ethic and Capitalism’<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnuhXnxv58qSRK4HzLTmnd0ki1moykeRueih2w43wWZz_wxiDv0wO_Qa2mkAxA4nerUFn_b4DXe3GhaesX_b0aFQKyIY_zJTRpnCpxmVsHms1bUXws33uoJX9-3MCdVcpahxba6sbOPo/s1600/Max_Weber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnuhXnxv58qSRK4HzLTmnd0ki1moykeRueih2w43wWZz_wxiDv0wO_Qa2mkAxA4nerUFn_b4DXe3GhaesX_b0aFQKyIY_zJTRpnCpxmVsHms1bUXws33uoJX9-3MCdVcpahxba6sbOPo/s400/Max_Weber.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Max Weber)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Max Weber was raised by parents who held polar ideologies about life. His father, a bureaucrat, enjoyed the pleasures of life. His mother, on the other hand, was a devout Calvinist who lived an ascetic life and constantly pursued salvation. Because of the differences in his parent’s personality, Weber was able to experience the two sides of living, even though it affected him psychologically as the tension of having to choose a side played a great deal of stress on his mind.</div>
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In his early college career, he followed in his father’s footsteps by joining a fraternity, where he developed socially by going out and drinking large amounts of beer with his frat brothers. However, as he got older, he became more like his mother. In his late 20s, he developed a compulsion for work and lived ascetically.<br />
<br />
It was these first-hand experiences (and extensive research in religious studies) that helped him write his most famous work, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2Hc9tQ2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>The Protestant Ethic and Capitalism</b></a></i> (affiliate link) in 1904-1905.<br />
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In his book, Weber argues that capitalism has roots in the religion of Protestantism, specifically Calvinism, as this religion encourages hard work and economic success. And if its followers were to be able to meet these goals, they would know that they are pre-destined for salvation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<h4>
But why did Weber pick Protestantism for his book over the other religions?</h4>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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In his research, he noticed that a set of rules in Calvinism, or its ethical system, wanted its followers to have self-control and live systematically around activities related to business. The other religions he studied did not promote this way of life or thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The religious valuation of restless, continuous, systematic work in a worldly calling, as the highest means of asceticism, and at the same time the surest and most evident proof of rebirth and genuine faith, must have been the most powerful conceivable lever for the expansion of… the spirit of capitalism.” (<i>The Protestant Ethic and Capitalism</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition, Weber also researched two countries with mixed religions and found that business leaders in these nations were predominantly Protestants. He also noticed that this religion encouraged following certain career paths because it would grant them the ability to see if they’re predestined for salvation or the damned.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It should be noted, however, that he says Calvinism is not the cause of capitalism. Rather, the rules of Calvinism sped up the growth rate of capitalism; Calvinism is the catalyst that helped rapidly encourage some form of capitalism back then.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Though Weber argues that these two sets of systems are intertwined, he believes that modern capitalism does not have any roots in Calvinism because capitalism today is about markets, money, and laws; it is no longer secular.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Capitalism is today an immense cosmos into which the individual is born, and which presents itself to him, at least as an individual, as an unalterable order of things in which he must live. It forces the individual, in so far as he is involved in the system of market relationships, to conform to capitalist rules of action.” (<i>The Protestant Ethic and Capitalism</i>)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
If you want to learn more about Weber and his work, <i>The Protestant Ethic and Capitalism</i>, you can buy it at from Amazon<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2Hc9tQ2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a></b>.<br />
<br />
<i>Just to be totally transparent with you, this article includes affiliate links. What this basically means is that if you decided to use the provided links to buy the product, I will get a small commission from your purchase, at no extra cost to you.</i></div>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-4627151396817773842014-08-11T12:31:00.001-06:002018-04-05T00:49:00.439-06:00What is Economic Sociology?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnuhXnxv58qSRK4HzLTmnd0ki1moykeRueih2w43wWZz_wxiDv0wO_Qa2mkAxA4nerUFn_b4DXe3GhaesX_b0aFQKyIY_zJTRpnCpxmVsHms1bUXws33uoJX9-3MCdVcpahxba6sbOPo/s1600/Max_Weber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnuhXnxv58qSRK4HzLTmnd0ki1moykeRueih2w43wWZz_wxiDv0wO_Qa2mkAxA4nerUFn_b4DXe3GhaesX_b0aFQKyIY_zJTRpnCpxmVsHms1bUXws33uoJX9-3MCdVcpahxba6sbOPo/s400/Max_Weber.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Max Weber)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Economic sociology, which was coined by William Stanley Jevons in the late 1800s, is used by many sociologists to examine how the processes of the economy affect the organisms of society and vice versa.</div>
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This field of study is broken up into two periods, classical and contemporary.</div>
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Thinkers of the classical period, which included sociologists such as Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Emile Durkheim, to name a few, mainly focused on the relationship between modernity, rationalization, and the rise of capitalism, and how this would affect social institutions and people. As a result, ideas such as the Protestant ethic & capitalism, division of labor, and historical materialism were born.</div>
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As for the contemporary period, or the new economic sociology, sociologists from this field focus on the effects of economic exchanges and what this does to social meanings and social interactions. They'll look at big corporations or property rights, for instance, to see how these could harm or benefit society. Some issues that researchers analyze are wage gaps and immigration.</div>
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For this series of posts, I will focus mainly on the classical period and the early beginnings of the contemporary period.</div>
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Some Definitions:</div>
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<ul>
<li><b>Modernity</b>: A term used to illustrate a time in history where society shifted from traditional ways of doing things (feudalism) to modern, or new, ways (democratic and industrial revolutions).</li>
<li><b>Rationalization</b>: The replacing of traditions, values, and emotions as the basis for societal behavior with rational calculation. </li>
</ul>
Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122494794678791021.post-44203705849229821532014-06-18T15:00:00.003-06:002014-06-18T15:12:16.346-06:00FIFA World Cup and Social StratificationJohn Oliver, from <i>Last Week Tonight with John Oliver</i>, perfectly analyses the FIFA World Cup and how it affects the poor.<br />
<br />
On his show a few weeks back, Oliver illustrated how the greedy FIFA capitalists use their power and influence to use the poor while stealing from them.<br />
<br />
This 13 minute clip is great for explaining theories of social stratification, especially those from Karl Marx.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Namhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682511321810978924noreply@blogger.com0